This is awesome: the charity of Arsenal’s German players

Posted on by WalterBroeckx

By Walter Broeckx

When returning to my computer after lunch I saw this message coming on line from the best nr. 10 of the world Mesut Özil.

“dear fans,
prior to the #WorldCup I supported the surgery of eleven sick children. Since the victory of the #WorldCup is not only due to eleven players but to our whole team, I will now raise the number to 23. This is my personal thank-you for the hospitality of the people of Brazil.”

And then the same message was also printed in German, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish.

I had seen his original message during the world cup. And I was touched by this act of humanity.

In fact the whole German mission to the world cup was a bit amazing.

They went out to build a whole new resort with houses for the players and the staff. A project that brought work to the locals. And I have been told that now the Germans will hand the whole area over to the local authorities so they will have new homes for the people there.

During the world cup I have seen plenty of videos and pictures posted on twitter and facebook by our German players.  German players visiting local schools, meeting the local people, bringing work to the local people, being very open to the local Brazilians.

I think the main reason for the Germans to stop the match after 45 minutes in the semi final was the fact that they felt so much love and sympathy from the local people that they couldn’t and didn’t want to break their hearts completely. Well this didn’t really go to plan as the plan was just to win the match, not to destroy them.

The biggest and hardest job was after that win it seems when they had to console the local people and told them nevertheless to be proud of their country and forget the match as quickly as possible. I think the Germans were really embarrassed about that victory or about the way it came about.

I remember from the visits to the local area how certainly Lukas Podolski was one of the main attractions with his wild and lively presence.  But in a way it felt real and not just posing for the cameras the way the players behaved and were all kind and friendly towards the people.

It might just have been a way of trying to win the local people over to be nice to the Germans but it certainly did them no wrong. I think that if you asked the people around Camp Bahia who should win the world cup before the last match that some 100% would have loved the Germans to win it despite them ruining their own world cup in the way they did.

And now this gesture from Özil. I know he has pockets that are deeper than those of the whole Untold readership put together. He probably earns more per month than Untold attract readers per month. So he will not really feel it or will have to skip an ice cream when he is on his holiday.

But nobody really asked him to do the offer to pay for 11 surgeries in the first place which in itself was already a nice gesture. But now even when having left Brazil and Camp Bahia behind him he still wants to help the local people and the children.

In a world full of greed that the professional football world is and I know he is a big part of that, this is something that can make me feel a bit mild about it.

I know that Mertesacker has his own “stiftung”  (charity foundation) where he tries to help people who suffer from depression because he has lost his former team mate at Hannover and the national team because he killed himself.

Lukas Podolski has his own “stiftung” where he tries to help children who live in difficult circumstances. And I think that is also why he was so at ease when visiting a school in Brasil.  The always smiling, funny, making jokes Lukas also has a more serious side in him.

And now Mesut Özil is joining them with this nice gesture.

I must say that the Germans and certainly our German Gunners have shown themselves to be real great ambassadors of their country and we as Arsenal supporters can be proud of them. Not just for winning the world cup. But also for being great human beings who are willing to help others who aren’t as lucky as they have been in their youth and careers.

I must say that after reading the message from Özil I felt like punching some people. The people who write in newspapers and who are trying to write him down. Stealing a living they said.  Ignoring all kinds of stats that show that he is a great footballer and was highly influential in Germany winning the world cup. Oh no, that was something that they couldn’t get printed or say.

I know the contribution of Özil is only a drop of water in a big ocean. But at least he will change the life of 23 children and has done something. So hats of to him and our other German Gooners. They are from divers origins but they certainly show that this modern Germany is a nice country. And I have already said this a few times, in fact each time I went to Koln, Gelsenkirchen or Dortmund to see Arsenal play. We always have felt very welcomed by the Germans and had great moments before, during and after the match.

And a special message for Tony that you really should check out the dancing moves of Per Mertesacker on the German catwalk when celebrating the world title.

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60 Replies to “This is awesome: the charity of Arsenal’s German players”

  2. The German Gunners are real gentlemen. Ozil’s act is just another proof. Well done.

  3. Lets hope the money Ozil is giving towards Gaza doesnt end up in the hands of the terrorist scum that is responsible for all this trouble in the first place.

  4. class acts, one and all. With our idiotic media, who have all sort of unpleasant stories stored up on various people and release them as appropriate…source, the deeply unpleasant Max Cliffords book….it is clearly open season on Arsenal players for whatever reason.
    But if they have a go at Ozil, he can just apply the Frank Leboef response to these people – I am a World Cup winner…now go away please

  5. That’s what being a Gooner does to you. Brings out the humanity in you. Truly commendable gesture, especially coming from a man described as “uninterested”, by people who know very little about football.

  6. I love dis guy, he does things seamlessly and simplify evrytin no wonder his haters wil neva undastand him

  7. The bit about him not shaking hands is likely made up.
    Who knows where that supposed Gaza money will end up, or if it is even true.
    There was a similar story made up about Ronaldo a while back, turned out to be completely fabricated.

  12. Well done to Mesut Özil for his unstinting generosity and well done Untold Arsenal for reporting it. I saw that he had donated his entire World Cup earnings to support Gaza, but I didn’t know about his charity donations in Brazil. Whether you agree with his choices or not you have to respect him as a man who stands by his principles with honour and integrity. Proud he’s a Gunner.

  13. Maybe he should donate it to Israel. Operation protective edge is a far more worthy cause than giving your dough to a bunch of terrorist scumbags who use little kids as human shields.

  14. Johnno, the media you read is it not the same that heaps praise on Arsenal? Beware the truth lies somewhere in the middle. All children are born innocent. Hatred has to be taught. Love is natural.

    When Jesus was being crucified he said ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do.’

  15. I`m sorry mate, I dont believe in fairytales about Jesus or any other backward religion. The only thing I worship is our great club. I`ll leave it at that for now as I am a big fan of this site and dont want to get too involved in a political debate about the evils of terrorist scum who fire rockets from school yards and hospital rooftops. I just hope our players know exactly where their donations are going and whose pockets their money will end up in.

  17. He’s not asking you to agree with him. He’s standing up for what he believes in with an astounding act of generosity.

  18. Haha, Thats me told then. However if you read through the posts Mickey boy, I think youll find that I was only replying to posts sent by other people. Your stern rebuke is duly noted though.

  20. –

    It wasn’t just Özil, but the conduct of the German FA really was incredible. A credit to those who support them.
    Building their own camp, pitches (the quality of the football pitch is important to some!), donating all the facilities to the local community afterwards. The inverse opposite of the kind of sociopathy exhibited by the likes of FUFA! the troll above, and elsewhere. A shame FAs from other wealthy nations showed such poverty of imagination, though not surprising (like the troll above!).

  21. Trainee Master Anthony Taylor has graduated from the ministry of funny walks, and rewarded for his, ah, his performances last season with a game in the UCL last night. I’ve read elsewhere that the betting odds fluctuated quite a bit on that game.

    Taylor’s promotion after sending off a player for wearing the wrong shirt (that’d be an AFC shirt then) and having the wrong colour skin? That wasn’t predictable! 😉

  22. Congratulations mate, you can spell troll. Now all you need to do is learn the meaning of sociopath. I would have thought anyone with a social conscience or any moral fibre for that matter would be against the type of people that I have criticized. But unfortunately, it seems not. I think the word sociopath comes a little too close to home for your comfort. Anyway pal, cheerio now.

  23. Great article in highlighting the conduct of the Germans.

    One correction: the resort the German national team used is surely going to be used as a luxury resort, not given to the local populace – http://campobahia.com/en.html#contact

    I read an article that spoke of the plans for the resort after the world cup but cannot find a link. Apoligies. Makes sense though, given investors were involved. Let us not get the facts incorrect and be accused of exaggeration in other areas. Germans are nice but that resort is not charity.

  24. It’s a black and white bi-polar world eh ‘Johnno’
    “You’re either with us or against us” I suppose.
    Not much left for me to add. Job done!

  25. Sorry Sav! Thanks for the clarification.
    I read earlier that they’d donated some of the facilities…

    “As a gesture of goodwill, the DFB is paying to renovate local football facilities, with work going on during this tournament on a new pitch for the people of Santo Andre. One potential plan for the training complex is to use it as part of a golf course.
    There has also been talk of a football youth academy and extending the local Ampare orphanage.” No mention there of any medical facilities, so apologies for any inaccuries!

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/germany/10962216/World-Cup-2014-Germanys-purpose-built-training-camp-has-given-them-extra-edge.html

  26. Definitely beats the other wealthy FAs giving all their Wonga to five star hotels.

    Worked for the squad too! Everyone’s a winner! Heh.

  27. We’ll done Ozil, what a role model to follow. Being a Muslim and this being the month of Ramadan, may Allah bestow all the barakah on him and his family.

    Same to all the other players of Germany, they have done well, not only on the pitch, but off it too. May their examples be emulated by many others and may they all be duly rewarded by the Al-Mighty of their faiths.

    From J. Low (the German version), to all the players and coaching and management staff of DFB, you have done the world of football proud. Long may this continue.

  28. yes saw that Finsbury, take it Taylor is now a UEFA ref. Wonder how that is? Just hope he can be kept away from us for quite a bit longer

  29. Well done, German world champions:
    -Thomas Muller berating FIFA for the messy decision leading to the Messi award
    -Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski for being great role models
    -Mesut Ozil for refusing to shake the hand of a pro-Israeli FIFA official
    -Donating his money to the children of Gaza; when I heard that “Mesut is giving money to Gaza” earlier today, I was very unhappy that a Gunner would give money to an alcoholic and ex-Spud. then, I realized what it was all about: the children of Gaza, not the democratically elected Hamas extremists (voted in because the Fatah collaborators were ready to sell out every Palestinian child for personal financial gain) who won at the polls because of barbaric treatment by occupying forces who are the darlings of a variety of Western Authoritative Governments (WAGs) that have endless nostalgia about colonial times
    Just to put things into perspective, terrorists in Syria have wrecked the country, with the support of WAGs and the terrorist governments of Qatar and the KSA, but that was totally ignored, or conveniently attributed to internal Syrian factors.

  30. I will go to my Church, as a good Catholic, and confess to my priest that I used profanity because I could not tell the difference between Gazza and Gaza. he will send me to his ENT cousin to have my ears cleaned.

  31. If Anthony Taylor is a referee with UEFA, we will not have to contend with him, as he cannot officiate any game involving a BPL/EPL team.

  33. Before we resort to a who is right, who is wrong debate on a political issue I would suggest to do like Özil.
    If the thing about helping Gaza is right it seems that he wants to have it send to help children.

    So for him it doesn’t really matter which children he helps. Catholic children in Brazil or Muslim children in Gaza. Helping kids can never be wrong. No matter their colour of skin, religion or nationality helping children is good.

    Maybe by helping them now he can make them think about the violence and we can only hope that the violence will stop one day, if possible today… but not holding my breath…. alas….

  34. So Villa were given 3 points to buy Taylor a UEFA refereeing position? Now that explains why we were robbed of our first match last season. Corruption on a plate. I thought this kind of thing only happened in fictional cowboy Westerns. The Sheriff appointed by the bad guy to help grab all the land.

    The bad guys have appointed the Judge of FIFA refs, the PGMOL Marshall and now Sheriff Taylor. Welcome to Gunfight at Arsenal. This is where you win promotion as a referee. Just whistle your way to the top.

  35. Walter the World War II stopped for Christmas day and the protagonists put down their guns and played football. Every day is Christmas people, put down the guns & just play football.

  38. PROUD of the Arsenal Germans in every aspect would be he greatest under-statement ever.

  40. TommieGun,
    Hamas? As a political organization, they promote Sunni integrism, as expected, and that is a significant problem. As a social/societal entity, they do OK with their schools and hospitals, but I bet you would get better results with oxfam or unicef managing the money. As a military entity, they will use their weapons out of desperation, with the usual results: civilian victims on the other side, followed by many (100 fold) civilians victims on their side. So, yes, they are not smart. They also have tons of religious rhetoric, but I happen to known a few Gaza Christian Arabs who support them.
    Back to me. I am against violence, as it is destructive and unnecessary; I am against any perpetrator of violence against civilians, including Hamas. I do not support them at all, especially as their leadership has been bought out by the most fanatic regimes/dynasties on earth, Qatar and the KSA.

  41. Dan, shit again, yes Owen says such things every year…..one day he will be right by the law of average. He was a talented sprinter finisher who lost the best part of his career to injury and losing his love of the game, he had other interests, horse racing, gambling , a runner for a friend who was a bookmaker who took bets from England players…..sir Alex did not sign him for all that money for his football ability you know!
    Don’t believe a word Owen says, and certainly do not gamble on it!! In fact, if you must gamble, be prepared to do the opposite where required

  42. @Johnno this is a football piece and i want to keep it that way but please spare me your ignorance and go read the history of the middle east crisis to know whats what before blabbering shit.
    I’ll help you with one historical fact- The terrorist state of Israel has no right or claim whatsoever on PALESTINIAN land.

  43. Thanks for the additional links guys.

    I think Walter says it best at 6:33 pm regarding the children, wherever they come from.

  45. That ibtimes is one of the WORST sites for football out there .They get EVERYTHING wrong.

  46. Mahdain has a good point.
    I recommend Oxford’s Albert Hourani “history of the Arab peoples” old but great.
    For an angle on the Levant (SyriaLebanon): “tribes with flags” by Charles Glass.
    For a bit of Sykes-Picot-era history: “seven pillars of wisdom” by T E Lawrence.
    Avoid orientalists like Lewis, Hutchins, Ajami-moron… as they are very biased.
    For people who have a Marxist education, look up French scholar Maxime Rodinson.

  47. I think Ozil came a long way to do what he did. He was never like that at Real Madrid. The influence of Ronaldo, the Madrid nightlife and Bernabau capitalism culture made him an average man. At Arsenal, he might have learn humility, friendship, goodness and teamwork from Per and the other guys and ultimately, the real man from Arsene Wenger.

  48. Well I don’t know what to believe to, but it seems Ozil did NOT donate money to Gazan children.

    http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/arsenal-star-mesut-ozil-donates-3m-brazil-world-cup-winnings-gaza-1456910

    Had I believed in god, I would have said I pray for both the children of Gaza and the children of Israel, but alas.

    I just hope this useless round of violence would end. The sad reality, however, that it will only be put on hold, until the next time. And then Hamas will have better rockets, which would penetrate Israeli defense systems, which in turn would require Israeli politicians to inflict a much greater damage on Gaza…

  50. What i dont get is if people know that the media are so biased in their reporting Arsenal being case in point, why do they swallow so much of the zionist media supporting media propaganda without giving a single thought? Out of my respect to Tony & Walter and this blog in general i wont turn this into a political debate. What i will say however is people should read the history of the crisis, not become media slaves and do some research on whats what and who is killing who before blabbering shit.

  51. >>Out of my respect to Tony & Walter and this blog in general i wont turn this into a political debate

    Using terms like “the zionist media” and “terrorist state” are rather inflammatory and dangerous.

    Anyway turns out this story is entirely made up, just as I thought.

  53. I think the rumour only ever suggested children, so that could include Gazza!

    Still, you’d hope that a rumour that a person had given some money as charity to children would not provoke such weird responses from those who think giving charity to children is wrong (giving charity to children was the theme of the article), but that’s the way it is I guess.

  54. I would like to point out that in the article we only spoke about Özil paying for the surgery and then mentioned the charity from Podolski and Mertesacker.

    I only mentioned the surgery charity as that came directly from Özil himself. The rest is media talk.

    The charity foundations from Podolski and Mertesacker have their own website by the way so they can be checked also.

  55. Well played Tommiegun and Oliver for not falling for terrorist propaganda. And well played Walter as well, most decent minded folk would echo your thoughts. Unfortunately there are a few characters on here who wish to re-write history and only want their own twisted and warped views of the conflict heard. The argument however is now redundant as Ozil has donated his money to suffering kids in Brazil. Hopefully the aid given to Gaza goes directly to the families whose lives have been wrecked, rather than the pockets of Hamas to fund their never ending terrorist campaign.

  57. Anybody without a block in his mind and doesnt have Islamophobia knows who the biggest terrorists in the middle east are and its not Hamas.

  58. Anyway i wont waste my breath and time trying to educate somebody who is clearly a troll. Carry on supporting the land grabbing,illegally settling, genocide committing, children killing zionist terrorists known as Israel. I wont bother replying anymore

  59. Well done Ozil. He confirmed helping the projects in Brazil, and denied the Gaza link. Just media noises, I guess it’s their way of tarnishing this good deed.

  60. Mahdain
    The original link to the rumour above only referred to, and I quote, “children”.
    When organisations like the Red Cross, UNICEF etc. operate out there we know exactly why this provoked such a partisan and excessive reaction to what was a minor and unsubstantiated rumour.

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