Fans held up mysterious Özil posters during Germany's clash with Spain
By Rune Gjerulff @runegjerulff
Spectators held up mysterious posters of a winking Mesut Özil during Germany's 1-1 draw with Spain.
| Mesut Özil. | Photo: Granada, CC-by-SA 4.0 |
In doing so, they were probably alluding to the gesture made by Germany before their World Cup opening game against Japan. The German players covered their mouths in their team photo, criticizing FIFA's decision to ban the OneLove armband at the World Cup.
Spectators at Germany's game against Spain mimicked the German national team's protest to highlight the DFB's handling of Mesut Özil's exit from the national team. #ESPGER pic.twitter.com/Na6E86F6Zv
— DW Sports (@dw_sports) November 28, 2022
Exactly why spectators held up pictures of the former German international is unclear, but it's likely that it was a way of criticizing the DFB's handling of Mesut Özil's retirement from the German national team.
Bild spoke to a Bangladeshi worker at the stadium, who claimed (via @iMiaSanMia):
"When we got to our block, the posters were on the seats. A Qatari came and showed us what to do with it: 'hold it up and close your mouth'. So that's what we did. I don't know what the posters meant."
Özil retired from the German national team in 2018, accusing the German Football Association of "racism and disrespect".
"I'm German when I win and an immigrant when I lose," Özil stated at the time.