International friendlies: Germany 2-1 Saudi Arabia, 5 Talking Points

#5 Gundogan booed and jeered for his recent actions

Gundogan has become unpopular among the German fans these days

On May 21st this year, Ilkay Gundogan and Mesut Ozil caused a stir among the German fans when they were captured with Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan. The Manchester City star, who has Turkish roots from his parents who hail from Istanbul, also addressed the slain Turkish chief as “my president” while speaking; something that really didn’t go down well with the German fans.

So today when he was gearing up to step onto the field, there were boos and jeers audible from large swathes of the stadium. So much so that even Loew himself had to request the fans to stop. Except, they didn’t. Every time Gundogan was on the ball, he was hooted at by the thronging fans who made their angst clear.

His performance on the day, fair to middling, was shrouded amid all the controversy and he may need a blinder or two in Russia to win over the fans again.