Mesut Özil, the football player is widely considered one of the best playmakers in the game. In 2013 he became the most-expensive German player of all time when English club Arsenal paid a club-record fee of £42.5 million to sign him from Real Madrid.
He is expected to prove instrumental in Germany’s efforts to be crowned World Champions for the first time as a unified nation.
Özil captured international attention as a youngster in the 2010 World Cup when he helped Germany to third place along with garnering a Golden Ball nomination in the process.
Born and raised:
Özil was born in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany on 15 October 1988.
Younger years:
Özil began his youth career playing for various clubs in Gelsenkirchen and then went on to spend 5 years at Rot-Weiss Essen.
Professional Career:
Özil joined the youth department of Schalke 04 in 2005. On reaching the first team in 2006, he was touted as “the next big thing” but following disagreements with the club management, he moved to Werder Bremen for a fee of €4.3 million in 2008. Following two successful seasons at Bremen and a good World Cup, Özil had many big clubs vying for his signature. He was finally bought by Spanish giants Real Madrid for €15 million and quickly established himself as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.
Playing for Germany:Â
Özil made his debut against Norway in 2009 and has gone on to represent Germany at the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championships, he will be appearing again in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He has accumulated 55 caps and scored 17 goals for his country and won multiple German Player of the Year awards.
Interesting Facts:
-Özil is a third generation Turkish-German. He commented on this saying “My technique and feeling for the ball is the Turkish side to my game. The discipline, attitude and always-give-your-all is the German part.”
-He is a practicing Muslim and recites passages from the Quran before every match.
-Real Madrid and Arsenal have never lost a game when he has scored.
-Özil had the highest number of assists in any major European league for the 2011 season and the highest number again for 2012 in La Liga.
Awards:
-2010 FIFA World Cup Most assists (3, shared with Thomas Müller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Kaká, and Dirk Kuyt)
-UEFA Euro 2012 Man of the Match: Germany vs Portugal, Germany vs Greece
-UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament: 2012
-UEFA Team of the Year: 2012, 2013