There are three players of Turkish decent playing the in FIFA 2018 World Cup this summer.
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, Man City’s Ilkay Gundogan and Bursaspor left-back Aziz Behich.
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Turkey, of course, missed out on this summers excitement after finishing fourth in Group I behind Ukraine, Croatia and Iceland.
Turkish Players in the 2018 World Cup:
Mesut Ozil (Germany)
Mesut Ozil played the full 90 minutes during Germany’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mexico over the weekend. The 29-year-old failed to unlock the opposition defence and was slammed by former Germany players after the game.
Ozil and Gundogan have come under fire from sections of the German media and fanbase for meeting Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month.
The Arsenal man, in particular, has had a rough week. Several former Germany national team players including Lohar Matthaus, Stefen Effenberg and Mario Basler slammed his performance.
“He’s over-rated as a footballer. I have to say it over and over again – he has the body language of a dead frog. It’s pathetic,” Basler stated live on TV, his words were applauded by the live audience.
Despite the heavy criticism, Ozil did not actually have as bad a game as was made out, not compared with some of his teammates anyway.
The 29-year-old made four key passes, had 88 touches and made 75 passes with 91% pass accuracy
The Arsenal playmaker will have a chance to make amends when Germany take on Sweden this weekend.
Ilkay Gundogan (Germany)
Ilkay Gundogan was an unused substitute during Germany’s defeat to Mexico.
Manager Joachim Low may opt to field the Man City playmaker in place of Sami Khedira who disappointed over the weekend.
Aziz Behich (Australia)
Bursaspor left-back Aziz Behich played the full 90 minutes during Australia’s 2-1 defeat to France.
The explosive wing-back spoke to the press ahead of their clash with Denmark on Monday.
“We know what we have to do,” defender Aziz Behich said.
“We went into the last game to get all three points, even though it was against France. We know what we have to do tomorrow to make sure we stay in the competition.”
