World Cup Diary: ‘Scapegoat’ Mesut Ozil should quit Germany squad, says father

Mesut Ozil’s father believes his son should quit Germany’s national squad after he was made a “scapegoat” for their shock first-round defeat at the World Cup.

Pressure had already been mounting on the Arsenal midfielder in the run-up to the tournament over a controversial photograph with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which sparked questions about his loyalty to Germany.

German Football Federation chief Reinhard Grindel has waded in, arguing that Ozil must go public on the issue.

His failure to speak out “has disappointed many fans, because they have questions and expect answers”, Grindel told Kicker magazine in an interview yesterday.

“They are rightly expecting this answer. That’s why it is absolutely clear to me that for his own interest, Mesut should speak out when he returns from his holidays.”

Ozil senior defended his son for not clarifying his position publicly.

“He no longer wants to explain himself, he no longer wants to have to defend himself all the time. It has always been: if we win, we win together. But when we lose, we lose because of Ozil? He is now getting whistled at and made a scapegoat.”

Calling his son’s treatment “unfair”, Ozil senior said “he needs to decide for himself. But if I were in his place, I’d say -- thanks a lot but that’s it.”

“The hurt has grown too strong. And who knows what’ll happen at the next match? In Mesut’s place, I would step down.”

Familiar foes on show in St Petersburg tonight

When the players of France and Belgium shake hands before kick-off in St Petersburg tonight, no fewer than 21 of them will be greeting a club colleague from last season.

The full list, with French names first, is: Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris v Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembélé; Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti and Ousmane Dembélé v Thomas Vermaelen; Monaco’s Djibril Sidibé and Thomas Lemar v Youri Tielemans; Chelsea’s N’Golo Kanté and Oiliver Giroud v Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard; Man Utd’s Paul Pogba v Marouane Fellaini and Romelu Lukaku; Man City’s Benjamin Mendy v Vincent Kompany and Kevin De Bruyne.

Suspension prevents Belgium’s Thomas Meunier facing off against three Paris Saint-Germain colleagues — including Kylian Mbappé.

Croatia left black and blue once again

Croatia in the World Cup semi-final? Check. Playing in trademark red-and-white checkerboard shirts? Sorry.

For the fifth straight game, Croatia will wear its change shirt of black and dark blue checks against England tomorrow night. Only in its opening game in Russia — against Nigeria playing in green — has Croatia’s team worn the short that is unique in international soccer and worn almost uniformly by its fans at the World Cup.

It’s not by choice for Croatia and Fifa.

All through the knockout bracket, Croatia has faced teams whose first-choice shirt is red or white, and change shirt is white or red.

England will play in all-white kit in Moscow, but the black and blue color scheme has been a lucky option for the Croats. They won penalty shootouts in both previous rounds to advance to a first semi-final in 20 years.

Wily old Fox Kramaric set on ultimate glory

Andrej Kramaric can talk for days about his memories of playing for Leicester but hopes to be able to “speak for years” about what he achieves with Croatia, starting with Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against England.

The 27-year-old was Leicester’s record signing at £9million when they bought him in January 2015 and he scored three goals in 15 games during the rest of that season.

But he could not break into Leicester’s title-winning side the following season and he moved on loan to Hoffenheim 12 months after joining the club.

“My stay in England is a great story for me, it was my first time outside Croatia and everything was new,” Kramaric told reporters in Moscow.

“I didn’t play much because the team was playing well and no coach would want to change a winning team. It was a great experience — I could talk about it for days — but I hope to be able to speak about this experience with Croatia for years.”

Martinez creates united front at Belgium

Roberto Martinez has admitted it took him two years to give Belgium’s bunch of individual superstars the belief that they can go on and win their first World Cup together.

Belgium go into their semi-final against France in St Petersburg on a high after a quarter-win win over Brazil which shattered the notion that their big names are impossible to unite in one team.

Martinez said: “Now I think a lot of questions have been answered in saying that this is a team, not a group of individuals.

“They made a commitment of trying to help each other become a high-performance squad and to come together to be as good as we can at international level has been a two-year process.

“It’s a group of people who want to share the vision of making Belgian football proud and they’ve done that.”

Wimbledon fans get to watch World Cup

Wimbledon fans on Centre Court will be allowed to use phones and tablets to follow the World Cup final, the head of the All England Lawn Tennis Club has said.

The men’s singles final, scheduled to begin at the traditional time of 2pm on Sunday, will not be moved to avoid a clash with the climax of the football tournament, organisers have confirmed.

Wimbledon rules state that phones, tablets and radios must be switched off “in and around the courts in play”.