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Two and a half years.

It's been two and a half years since Mesut Özil and the DFB had a dirty exchange of blows.

A bitter war of the roses, finally a sensational divorce.

Germany had embarrassed itself at the World Cup, Özil's prelude with the Erdogan photo was branded as one of the major disruptive factors.

The disappointed national player lamented "a feeling of racism and disrespect" when he settled with the association and his teammates.

He was right about some things.

But that now, two and a half years after the most spectacular divorce drama in the history of the German national team, the top of the DFB is still chasing after the implacable player, after all, it is surprising.

Even irritated.

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Why is so much energy expended on someone who has adequately explained, and has shown with every fiber of his heart, that he hates all of this?

DFB President Fritz Keller now even wrote “a nice, personal letter”, as Özil reported.

Keller was not in office at the time, his predecessor Reinhard Grindel gave up the unfortunate figure in the cause.

Nevertheless, he still wants to straighten something that was so badly at odds.

Keller may mean well, but the decency has long been satisfied.

With Özil's grace, the DFB does not have to be accepted back into his court.

To this day, Özil has not spoken to Löw

In these two and a half years it was not the case that rapprochement and reconciliation were on the DFB's index.

On the contrary.

There were many attempts to apologize to Özil, they went as far as humiliation.

It should be remembered, for example, that national coach Löw and team manager Bierhoff Özil, two months after his allegations, wanted to meet at his club Arsenal in London, but were not allowed to practice and finally remained in the club's visitor room without Özil looking at them let.

To this day, Özil has not spoken to Löw.

That is not exactly polite, but in the end it is acceptable.

A reconciliation cannot be forced.

This is exactly what the DFB is now conveying again.

Ozil, who demonstrated his closeness to the Turkish despot in the summer of 2019 when he invited him to his wedding, should still become a good friend.

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Why?

Because Özil, with his Turkish roots, is also a wonderfully prominent projection surface.

Anyone who can reconcile with him hopes to get rid of an image problem in the fight against racism.

That is the belief, even two and a half years and umpteen unsuccessful attempts after the break.

The DFB is scourging itself again for its misconduct from back then.

The photo that changed everything: Özil with Turkish President Erdogan in mid-May 2018 in London's "Four Seasons"

Source: pa / Uncredited / Po

Totally unnecessary.

Özil is not the center of the universe, he never was.

Özil was a German national player who was offended and then stubborn.

Who no longer wanted to be part of the DFB cosmos out of pride or lack of maturity and who no longer wanted to be co-opted.

Özil is currently the person who unintentionally makes the DFB look stupid again.

The association and its president have completely different problems that they should fight with all their might.

Because the DFB and its national team paint a miserable picture in completely different - and above all much more topical - fields.

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The power struggle is raging in the association, one tax affair replaces the next, one communication disaster chases the other, it is not sporty either, when looking at the youngsters there is a lack of future prospects.

The task is to get the biggest crisis in decades under control, the signs of decline are obvious.

In this situation, petitions to Özil seem as if someone did not understand what it is about now: to regain control of your own house, to create a spirit of optimism in the EM year, to convey a vision - and not to want to deal with a dispute that was a long time ago.

Two and a half years.