Mesut Ozil only cares about the opinion of one man on his performances at Euro 2016 – Germany coach Joachim Low.
Arsenal star Ozil played the full 90 minutes of the world champions’ tournament-opening 2-0 victory over Ukraine on Sunday, setting up Bastian Schweinsteiger for their second goal with a typically classy assist in injury time.
Despite his key role in securing the three points for Germany, the 27-year- old faced criticism in some quarters for his overall performance in Lille.
Low was effusive in his praise of Ozil before the start of the European Championship, hailing his “outstanding physical condition”, and the former Real Madrid man insists his manager’s feedback is all that matters to him.
“What comments people post, positive or negative, I do not care,” Ozil told Sport 1.
“For me, it’s only what the coach wants. I enjoy his confidence and have performed well, I think, with a great assist. That gives me and the whole team confidence.”
Speaking about whether Germany, who swatted Ukraine aside with relative ease, looked the strongest of the pre-tournament favourites in their opening fixture, Ozil continued: “It is far too early [to say]. This was the first game and you have to get the three points, which we have done.
“We look game to game. Now comes Poland [in Paris on Thursday] and we want to get three points again.”
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