Toni Kroos calls Mesut Ozil’s racism claims ‘nonsense’

Toni Kroos has hit out at former teammate Mesut Ozil for the way he retired from the national team and for claims of racism within German football.

Ozil quit international football in July after accusing the German association (DFB) of “racism and disrespect”. Arsenal midfielder Ozil was controversially pictured with Turkish president Recep Erdogan and then under-performed as defending champions Germany crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage.

Sky Sports reports that Ozil accused his country’s football association of “failing to back him in the row over the photo”.

In a statement, Ozil said last month: “It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect.

“I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don’t. This decision has been extremely difficult to make because I have always given everything for my team-mates, the coaching staff and the good people of Germany.”

But in an interview with German newspaper Bild, Kroos was critical of Ozil. The Real Madrid star said: “Basically Mesut is a deserved international and as a player he deserved a better departure. But the way he resigned was not in order.

“The parts in his statement that are rightly addressed are unfortunately overshadowed by the significantly higher amount of nonsense. I think he knows very well that racism within the national team and the DFB does not exist.”