crinkly_ears | A Night In Istanbul, A Friendly Locker-Room Visit & General Mesut-Centric National Team News! (Reply)

A Night In Istanbul

Mesut, watching from the stands.

Mesut did not play in Istanbul. His Achilles tendon was still sore and the doctors would not pass him fit. Joachim Loew (as he put it himself today in an interview following the match) "will not risk Mesut with an injury under any circumstances."

Instead, he watched the game from the stands with the rest of the walking wounded - Denis Aogo and Miroslav Klose among them - and posing for pictures with the others who were in the same box and his very impressive looking security detail. Indeed, everytime Mesut sat down in the half-hour before the game, he had to get right back up to accomodate photograph requests.

The amount of attention paid to Mesut in the pre-match half-hour was nearly comical. The cameras were far less interested in the warm-up or the players on the pitch. And although I don't myself speak Turkish, the Turkish commentators talked about "Mesut" (no last name required!) for the entirety of the pre-match. "Mesut this, Mesut that" - all the while the camera tracking his every move from the catacombs, to the elevator, up to the area in the stands where he watched the game.

The cameras even scanned up when the national anthems were played -

- and for reaction shots at interesting moments in the game. Interestingly, Miroslav Klose looked exactly the same throughout the entire game, while Mesut moved around rather more and bit his lip at interesting moments.

Crinkly eared, bug-eyed gorgeousness is crinkly eared, bug-eyed and gorgeous.

Once he realizes he's being filmed, he nervously bites his lip!

By the time Germany was up two goals however it seems to have been very relaxed with bug-eyed gorgeousness chatting away on his cell-phone.

A Friendly Visit During The Friendly Visit To Turkey

According to Bild Zeitung, Mesut also visited the Turkish dressing room after being invited to come by new (and old - they played at Schalke together) club-teammate Hamit Altintop, captain of the Turkish team.

The game was really a must-win for Turkey since Belgium is now ahead on points and everything now depends on Turkey winning their game against Azerbaijan and Belgium losing to Germany. And although they actually played better for long portions of the early part of the game (and Altintop himself was the outstanding player on the pitch - aside from Neuer, who made the stop that denied his strike) they lost, of course, 3-1. It was the heaviest defeat inflicted by a visiting team on Turkish soil in 7 years and the first loss at home in nearly 3 years.

Altintop congratulating the German players - specifically, his old teammates at Bayern Munich.

Mesut, who is close friends with the no less than 6 German-born and bred players in the Turkish squad last night (which includes Captain Altintop himself) is said to have told the players to "keep your heads up and don't worry because we [Germany] are sure to beat Belgium on Tuesday and then we'll all meet up at the tournament again." This is providing that Turkey win their play-off game. Still, it was a very sweet thing to do - and that includes Hamit's invitation as well as Mesut's visit.

Two of Mesut's club teammates vying for the ball - Sami Khedira and Hamit Altintop.

And indeed, it was a very positive visit for Mesut all around. It was plain throughout that the Turkish public take a huge interest in him and are proud of him. Also: my own theory is that it seems likely there is actually less anger at Mesut within Turkey among Turks than there is among Turkish Germans in Germany. The latter, of course, feel more intimately connected with the decision Mesut made, and in the face of difficulty integrating (for which Germany's previously archaic citizenship laws and very badly thought out guest-worker program bears a portion of the blame) there are far more emotions involved. Immigrants to all countries are more likely to cling to their religious and national identities in any case - mostly from feelings of insecurity and isolation. Turkey itself is a secular state of course, and while it is also a quite nationalistic society, it is difficult to believe the average Turk is over-worried about a solitary German's decision to play for Germany - most especially when the national team benefits from the talents of so many Germans of Turkish descent.

A highly evocative photograph of Mesut.

And indeed - an online poll done by a Turkish newspaper reports that nearly 70% of Turks in Turkey consider Mesut to be German. Since he didn't play we can't know what the reaction towards him on the pitch would have been, but I consider it likely that it wouldn't have been as emotional or hostile as that which he put up with in Berlin.

Team News

The next game is on Tuesday against Belgium in Germany. Mesut will play if he's passed fit - that has already been announced - but zero risks will be taken with his ligament injury. Any doubt at all, and he'll not play. Loew himself has said this - a record of 10 wins in 10 qualification games on the line be damned!

This highly risk-averse attitude toward his National team players is likely why Joachim Loew is easily the most popular of national coaches with Mourinho and his staff in Madrid. This week it was also made clear that Loew watches all of Madrid's games to check up on Mesut and Sami, and is in contact with Mourinho almost weekly.

Mesut with the risk-averse Joachim Loew.

Mesut has been training, but not completing the full program, which accounts for the large number of pictures of him playing with the ball and practicing the elaborate tricks he likes to do.

He also mentioned in his interview that he is receiving treatment every day. I am sure we Ozileris will breathe a sigh of relief that the German Mannschaft doctors and not the idiots at Madrid are looking after him.

Thank you