Toni Kroos attacks Mesut Ozil over retirement

Real Madrid midfielder, Toni Kroos hit out at his former Germany
teammate, Mesut Ozil, after the Arsenal star's retirement from
international football following a disappointing World Cup.

The duo were part of Germany's miserable World Cup campaign in Russia.

Germany crashed out of the competition at the group stages, and Ozil
believes racism played a part in his portion of the blame.

Ozil stepped down from the national team after facing heavy criticism from fans.

The Arsenal midfielder had claimed that the lack of support from the
German federation made him "no longer want to wear the German national
team shirt."

However, Real Madrid star, Kroos has attacked the 29-year-old's claims.

"The proportion that is well and properly addressed in [Ozil's]
statement is unfortunately overshadowed by the much higher proportion
of nonsense," he told Bild.

"I think that he knows that racism does not exist within the national
team and the DFB.

"On the contrary, we are always committed to diversity and
integration. Mesut was a good example, as many of our fellow players
[were].

"Mesut was criticized for the photo – and rightly so.

"And he missed the chance to explain himself. Nevertheless, he was
absolutely supported by the athletic leadership and the team.

"Later he was – as we others also – criticized for the performance at
the World Cup. The type of criticism was certainly not always at a
good level – but you have to go through [that] as a player."