Boateng: Other Germans weren't brave enough to defend Ozil
The Arsenal man retired after the World Cup, in which the Mannschaft was knocked out in the group stages. The Gunners star claimed afterward that "I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose.”
While teammates like Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller have criticised the comment, Jerome Boateng has backed up the midfielder.
"Where were the teammates who thanked Mesut? Apparently, they did not dare to make any comments because they thought it would not go down well with the Germany fans," Boateng told Suddeutsche Zeitung.
Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan came under a lot of fire before the Russian expedition because of a photo op with controversial Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Yet Boateng said that Germans should still be grateful to the former World Cup winner:
"It's not about that photo. It's about a great player who has won the World Cup with us. Who has won a lot of caps, who changed German football a bit. A No. 10 with a migratory background.
"You must thank him. To abide, I think that's sad!"