As the season came to a resounding close by winning the German Cup, one honour nearly went by unnoticed - one which especially pleased Mesut Özil. The Werder midfielder was elected...
As the season came to a resounding close by winning the German Cup, one honour nearly went by unnoticed - one which especially pleased Mesut Özil. The Werder midfielder was elected...
As the season came to a resounding close by winning the German Cup, one honour nearly went by unnoticed - one which especially pleased Mesut Özil. The Werder midfielder was elected as the "Talent of the season". More than 34,000 Internet users voted and gave Özil a clear victory. The 20-year-old midfielder, whose winning goal in the cup final crowned a strong season, received more than 14,600 votes (nearly 43 percent). Second place went to Sami Khedira from Stuttgart (24.1 percent) and Karlsruhe defender Stefano Celozzi was third.
Just as shy and reserved as Özil seems off the pitch, he is just as elegant and confident between the sidelines. In February 2009, he was nominated for the first time to the German national team by coach Joachim Löw. And he made his debut for Germany's senior side against Norway. Özil also will be playing for Germany at the U21 European Championship in Sweden in June and the midfielder will be looking for another title.
Özil has gone through an extremely quick development in Bremen, assisting on 23 goals to show the excellent vision of the footballer. Werder veteran Torsten Frings praised Özil saying: "Diego is more of an individual player who can do unbelievable things. Mesut can do that too. But he plays more with the team and is a bit quicker." Franz Beckenbauer, the patron for the selection of "Talent of the season", said Özil was a worthy winner. "He is an excellent player, a young and developing man who justifiably was named Talent of the year. He still has to become more stabile and robust. But he can run long ways and with that willingness to run he shows that he has the desire to shape games. He is on a great path. And I am convinced that we will hear plenty more of him," said Beckenbauer.
