Germany vs Mexico: 5 Talking Points, World Cup 2018

#4 Mesut Ozil and Manuel Neuer start, putting to bed debates over team selection

Mesut Ozil (R) started even though he was at risk of being dropped

These are strange times in Germany. Normally, Die Mannschaft are well-supported and allowed to go about their business when preparing for a major tournament. But the World Cup saw controversies bubble beneath the surface.

It is usually the English media that give their teams hell even before a ball is kicked but Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan found themselves in the eye of a media storm when they met Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan - a move that even saw German Chancellor Angela Merkel make a comment.

The media furore saw both players booed in the warm-up games and coach Joachim Low was under pressure to drop Ozil from the starting lineup. Yes, Ozil who has played each and every game for Germany in every major tournament since the 2010 World Cup.

Gundogan was never going to start but Low retained Ozil in his lineup. Although he wasn't as instrumental as he would have hoped, Ozil did create a few chances for his teammates.

The same media pressure had applied to Manuel Neuer as well. The big German goalkeeper has not played this season since September due to a broken foot injury and only proved his fitness in the national camp prior to the World Cup.

There were calls for Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen to start in goal considering his fine season in La Liga but it was Neuer who did start in the end. The skipper even put in a commanding performance - even though he could do nothing about the goal.