Toni Kroos has revealed that he was branded a ‘Nazi’ by a lot of people following his comments about former teammate Mesut Özil and the way in which the former Arsenal playmaker announced his retirement from the Germany national team.
Ozil referenced ‘racism and disrespect’ in the Germany dressing room as two of his reasons behind retiring from international football, something the Madrid midfielder argued against at the time.
“After the 2018 World Cup I said that I didn’t like the way in which Mesut Ozil [handled himself as he retired from international football], and then [because of that] I was a Nazi for quite a lot of people,” Kroos said during a chat on Instagram Live with Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the subject of combating cyber-bullying.
“Blonde hair, blue eyes, it all fit for a lot of people. I managed to get over it. Anyone can hide behind a fake profile and then insult other people with almost no problem.”
