Germany midfielder Toni Kroos says Mesut Ozil was 'out of order' to make accusations of racism within the German set up as he retired from international football last month.
"Basically Mesut is a long-serving national team player and deserved a better exit as a footballer," Kroos, 28, told German daily Bild.
"I have played with Mesut for many years and know that he is a nice guy. But the way he retired was out of order.
"The proportion of his statement which was fair and justified was unfortunately overshadowed by a much higher proportion of nonsense.
"I think he himself 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 of that, like many of our team mates."
- Missed opportunity -
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"The type of criticism was certainly not always at a good (justified) level - but then you have to deal with that as a player."
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