German chancellor Angelo Merkel has urged Germany national team fans to stop booing Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil and Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.
Both players were whistled over Germany’s last two friendly games against Austria and Saudi Arabia.
Merkel revealed that she does not think the two players realised how posing for photographs with the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan would look.
Fans were urged to ‘clap’ instead of whistle and Merkel underlined that she felt Gundogan’s statement regarding the matter very touching.
“I think the two players had not considered how the photograph with President Erdogan would have been perceived,” Merkel said on ARD talk show Anne Will on Sunday night.
“I think we all need them now so that we can do well and so I would be happy if some fans could clap too”.
At the World Cup dress rehearsal against Saudi Arabia in Leverkusen, Gundogan was whistled after being brought on as a substitute.
Ozil and Gundogan met the president of Turkey in London for an event last month.
Both players gave Erdogan shirts from their respective clubs, Gundogan signed his shirt ‘my president’.
It is worth remembering that both players are of Turkish origin and eligible citizens in the country.
