Mesut Özil leaves professional football and ends his career. Goal in Ludogorets net goes down in history

World football has lost another great player. Thirty-four-year-old World Cup winner Mesut Özil announced the end of his career on Wednesday due to injury. He won over the football public with his insight and flair for the game. Let’s recall the key moments of his rich career, not forgetting his goal in the net of Ludogorets Razgrad.

Beginnings

Özil took his first football steps in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where he was born. He started running around the football pitches at the age of seven. And he was already a success in youth football.

He won the 2009 European Under-21 Championship with the national team, making his name in the statistics with one goal in the final match and helping Germany to a 4-0 victory over England.

In the same year, he applied for the revocation of his Turkish citizenship (his father was born in Turkey – ed.), and when he played his first game for Germany’s A-team in 2009, he definitely lost the opportunity to represent Turkey.

Professional football

Of course, Özil jumped into professional football in the Bundesliga. He made his first start in the squad of Schalke 04, from where he moved to Werder Bremen in January 2008. He thrived at the traditional German club and was thus recruited by Real Madrid.

With the giant of Spanish football, he managed to win everything on the domestic scene, but missed out on the Champions League. La Liga triumph, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.

The creative midfielder gave an idea to the game, for which he was praised by Cristiano Ronaldo, to whom Özil passed a lot of goals. In his three seasons in the White Ballet jersey, he notched up an incredible 81 assists.

On the last day of the 2013 summer transfer window, he was signed by Arsenal London. Gunners fans were absolutely delighted with his arrival. With his arrival, the fans started thinking about the highest standards again. Unfortunately for them, those didn’t happen.

He reached his personal best during the 2015/16 season when he notched up 19 league assists. However, the coveted title was not to be. In Arsenal colours, he celebrated winning the FA Cup four times and the Community Shield twice.

The fans in north London loved him despite his more frequent mood swings as time went on. For then-coach Arséne Wenger, he was untouchable, but patience ran out for Mikel Arteta. At the end of 2021, he sidelined him from the A-team.

Of course, Özil didn’t like that and moved to Turkish side Fenerbahce for free in the winter transfer window. So he didn’t exactly say goodbye to the Gunners as he had imagined.

He didn’t play much more after leaving the British Isles. He struggled to find his shining moments at his next destination, which was Istanbul Basaksehir. Due to health problems, he decided to end his professional career at the age of 34.

National team career

During his nine years with the German national team, Özil accomplished quite a lot. He finished third twice at the European Championships with his teammates (in 2012 and 2016). However, what he failed to do on the European stage, he did at the World Cup.

At the 2014 World Championships in Brazil he celebrated gold with his teammates. In the entire tournament, the German team did not lose even once. Moreover, the semi-final saw a memorable 7-1 victory over Brazil. In the final match, the Germans won 1-0 thanks to an extra-time goal by Mario Götze.

A memorable goal

Probably the most memorable and beautiful goal during his career Özil scored in the 2016/17 season in the net of Ludogorets Razgrad. In the Champions League group stage on the field of the Bulgarian opponent, he literally enjoyed the defense and the goalkeeper of the home team. However, you can see the picture for yourself.

ESPN, Sky Sports, Transfermarkt