A sign of our times.Mesut Ozil,after a career that spanned 92 caps for Germany and after being voted the national team’s player of the year five times since 2011 is at the centre of a perfect storm of hatred and bigotry at the moment
His retirement from the German team after the world cup has been met with abuse,hate and vilification – which began some time earlier when he posed for a photograph with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan
“I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose,” Ozil said. “I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don’t.”

What a terrible way to have to exit a national side that he has done his best for so many times over.
Truly our world has gone more than a bit cracked.