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crinkly_earsVideo Archive: Mesut & Integration. ZDF Visits Mesut's Childhood Neighbourhood During The World Cup.
This little featurette (which is no longer available on Youtube) must have been filmed sometime between June 23 and 26. The Magazine in the story shows a cover photograph from the game against Australia - Mesut is congratulating Lukas Podolski for the goal which opened Germany's scoring at the tournament. One of the students makes reference to the goal against Ghana, but not to Mesut's performance against England.
It was translated by me,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jenny_jenkins.
Mesut Özil is one of us.
With this message, the football professional's former teacher hopes to motivate his students. 40% of the boys and girls in this Comprehensive School in Gelsenkirchen have, just like Mesut, immigration in their backgrounds and Christian Krabbe likes to stress this as a pedagogical trick - such as recently, when a student was required to write portrait of his hero - as a punishment.
Krabbe: So I gave Mesut a call. The student was shocked to suddenly hear Mesut Özil on the other end of the phone. They exchanged a few words in Turkish - and of course the result is that this student has been doing his homework.
Until 2006 Mesut was at one of the desks here and is and example for many students. Regardless what nationality they are or how much their parents earn he's shown them that it's worth it to fight for one's dreams.
Dilara (a student): He makes me very proud actually, because he's Turkish like me and because we can be proud that he shot Germany into the last 16 (Mesut scored the only goal against Ghana - a screamer of a strike in a must-win game).
Pascal (a student): And you can see that you can also do things, that you have the same possibilities as this person.
Mesut Özil grew up in Gelsenkirchen, the child of Turkish immigrants. The family had very little money but they did have a son with a huge passion for football. With his best friend Baris, he kicked around a ball as a 4 year-old in "The Monkey-Cage"* an enclosed space that owes its name to the wire fence that rises high above it and all around. This is where Mesut studied the tricks of his idol, Zinedine Zidane and amazed everyone.
Baris (friend of Mesut Özil): He was already showing his class, although he was younger than we were you could already see that he could get far.
Interviewer: Were you jealous sometimes?"
Baris: Oh no, we support him all the way.
Not far from the Monkey Cage, is where a little Mesut would buy sweets for himself and his friends after the football game. Now he provides decoration for the counters.
Zekeruja has lived in Germany for 34 years and counts himself as one of Mesut Özil's biggest fans. He maintains that as a member of the German National Team Mesut is an important symbol for integration.
Zekeruja (fan of Mesut Özil): It's just so nice that the National Team isn't so "typically German" [based on the gorgeous football they produced, no one would disagree!] but has a few people along who've come from other places but who grew up here, who learned how to play here and now belong to the National Team. I think it's great. It makes you proud!
At the local sports centre they're proud of their Mesut too. In 1994 a skinny 7 year old came along who wanted to play (the feature-writers got this wrong. In 1994 Mesut was 6 years old). His former teammates Fabian and Niklas didn't pay much attention at first, until the weakling taught them a lesson.
Fabian (friend of Mesut Özil): He was never one to use words when he was on the field. Sort of like he is today - he's a number ten - a player who changes a game all on his own. It was like that then. He could do the whole game himself.
In every game, Mesut would always score at least 3 or 4 goals.
Fabian: As you watched him even then, you could see he was the best."
Fabian and Niklas are happy that they have these photographs of their time together with the football star.
Niklas (friend of Mesut Özil): It's the kind of story you can tell your own kids, or your grandchildren - and they'd wonder at it.
Fabian and Niklas still play for the Westphalia Gelsenkirchen while Mesut kicks for Werder Bremen and the "National 11". Now and then they would like to switch places with him, but above all they are happy for their former teammate whose managed to make it from the very bottom to the very top!
----------------------------
Footnotes:
The Magazine on the counter reads "Ozil and Company" and the obscured sub-headline seems to refer to the boys on the team who have some immigrant background - though Mesut was the only member of the starting 11 to actually come from a purely immigrant background. Khedira has a German mother. So does Boateng. Klose and Podolski (who is on the cover with Mesut and with whom he has a firm Bromance - you never forget your first!) were Polish born but to parents of German ethnicity. There were squad players who were immigrants. In all 11 of our 23 players had some foreign background, leading the BBC to refer to the team as "The Rainbow Team" in the Rainbow Nation - South Africa's nickname.]
This little featurette (which is no longer available on Youtube) must have been filmed sometime between June 23 and 26. The Magazine in the story shows a cover photograph from the game against Australia - Mesut is congratulating Lukas Podolski for the goal which opened Germany's scoring at the tournament. One of the students makes reference to the goal against Ghana, but not to Mesut's performance against England.
It was translated by me,
jenny_jenkins.Mesut Özil is one of us.
With this message, the football professional's former teacher hopes to motivate his students. 40% of the boys and girls in this Comprehensive School in Gelsenkirchen have, just like Mesut, immigration in their backgrounds and Christian Krabbe likes to stress this as a pedagogical trick - such as recently, when a student was required to write portrait of his hero - as a punishment.
Krabbe: So I gave Mesut a call. The student was shocked to suddenly hear Mesut Özil on the other end of the phone. They exchanged a few words in Turkish - and of course the result is that this student has been doing his homework.
Until 2006 Mesut was at one of the desks here and is and example for many students. Regardless what nationality they are or how much their parents earn he's shown them that it's worth it to fight for one's dreams.
Dilara (a student): He makes me very proud actually, because he's Turkish like me and because we can be proud that he shot Germany into the last 16 (Mesut scored the only goal against Ghana - a screamer of a strike in a must-win game).
Pascal (a student): And you can see that you can also do things, that you have the same possibilities as this person.
Mesut Özil grew up in Gelsenkirchen, the child of Turkish immigrants. The family had very little money but they did have a son with a huge passion for football. With his best friend Baris, he kicked around a ball as a 4 year-old in "The Monkey-Cage"* an enclosed space that owes its name to the wire fence that rises high above it and all around. This is where Mesut studied the tricks of his idol, Zinedine Zidane and amazed everyone.
Baris (friend of Mesut Özil): He was already showing his class, although he was younger than we were you could already see that he could get far.
Interviewer: Were you jealous sometimes?"
Baris: Oh no, we support him all the way.
Not far from the Monkey Cage, is where a little Mesut would buy sweets for himself and his friends after the football game. Now he provides decoration for the counters.
Zekeruja has lived in Germany for 34 years and counts himself as one of Mesut Özil's biggest fans. He maintains that as a member of the German National Team Mesut is an important symbol for integration.
Zekeruja (fan of Mesut Özil): It's just so nice that the National Team isn't so "typically German" [based on the gorgeous football they produced, no one would disagree!] but has a few people along who've come from other places but who grew up here, who learned how to play here and now belong to the National Team. I think it's great. It makes you proud!
At the local sports centre they're proud of their Mesut too. In 1994 a skinny 7 year old came along who wanted to play (the feature-writers got this wrong. In 1994 Mesut was 6 years old). His former teammates Fabian and Niklas didn't pay much attention at first, until the weakling taught them a lesson.
Fabian (friend of Mesut Özil): He was never one to use words when he was on the field. Sort of like he is today - he's a number ten - a player who changes a game all on his own. It was like that then. He could do the whole game himself.
In every game, Mesut would always score at least 3 or 4 goals.
Fabian: As you watched him even then, you could see he was the best."
Fabian and Niklas are happy that they have these photographs of their time together with the football star.
Niklas (friend of Mesut Özil): It's the kind of story you can tell your own kids, or your grandchildren - and they'd wonder at it.
Fabian and Niklas still play for the Westphalia Gelsenkirchen while Mesut kicks for Werder Bremen and the "National 11". Now and then they would like to switch places with him, but above all they are happy for their former teammate whose managed to make it from the very bottom to the very top!
----------------------------
Footnotes:
The Magazine on the counter reads "Ozil and Company" and the obscured sub-headline seems to refer to the boys on the team who have some immigrant background - though Mesut was the only member of the starting 11 to actually come from a purely immigrant background. Khedira has a German mother. So does Boateng. Klose and Podolski (who is on the cover with Mesut and with whom he has a firm Bromance - you never forget your first!) were Polish born but to parents of German ethnicity. There were squad players who were immigrants. In all 11 of our 23 players had some foreign background, leading the BBC to refer to the team as "The Rainbow Team" in the Rainbow Nation - South Africa's nickname.]
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