Kevin Kuranyi: The DFB has singled out Mesut Özil

Unfortunately, a sad issue is still a big topic of discussion both in Germany and here in Russia. The Mesut Özil problem needs to be dealt with. I cannot understand the new dynamics driving this story. Mesut definitely made a mistake before the tournament, and he hasn't improved things by maintaining his silence.

However, the German football assoociation's (DFB) officials, as well as Germany's players, have long since declared the issue over. As far as I'm concerned, that's the approach that they should stick to. And since things didn't go the national team's way and the criticism continues, now one player is being singled out, and an issue that was actually over, has been re-opened. It would have been more credible for the DFB to have criticized Özil or to have taken some sort of action right after "Erdogangate" happened.

Now, Özil is being blamed for everything that went wrong with Germany's World Cup. I think that's bad. It seems like the spotlight is being focused on one individual to distract from one's own shortcomings. This looks like a distraction to me, and I hope that this discussion will end soon so that we'll be able to shift our focus back to football. And now football is a big deal in Moscow.

The World Cup major success for Russia

The whole tournament was a success for the whole of Russia. Looking around at the fan festival in Moscow on Sunday, it was clear to see that Russia has truly become a footballing country in a very short period of time. I could have not imagined this would happen. The Russian national team did very well, and the Russian fans' behavior was magnificent. You could sense an enthusiasm developing among the local supporters, and that could not have been anticipated in advance.

Like many others, my expectations ahead of this World Cup were dead wrong. It shows how football has the power to change things and bring people together. I have never seen people in this country seem so happy and cheerful as they have been over the past three weeks, and during thist time I have traveled all across the country.

Henry to help sending France home?

I am particularly pleased that the team I picked to win the tournament, Croatia, are still alive. They deserved to get this far, even if they had a bit of luck on the penalty shootouts. I once again want to wish my former Schalke teammate Ivan Rakitic all the luck and success, hoping that they'll manage to beat England. The English will get another chance in the future..

But of course, France and Belgium are really strong too. Mostly, I find the fact that French 1998 World Cup winner Thierry Henry — now part of Belgium's coaching staff — could be part of a team that would send France home very exciting. It will be a great game, and we'll see who's the better team on the day.

Only four more games left, and the World Cup will be over. But I am also looking forward to some holiday time after these four intense, rather surprising weeks. A holiday I'll happily spend without football.

Kevin Kuranyi is covering the World Cup in Russia as a columnist for DW and a television pundit for public broadcaster ARD. Kuranyi is a citizen of three countries represented at the World Cup: Germany, Panama and his native Brazil. He made 52 international appearances for Germany and was part of the team that reached the final of Euro 2008. After a rift with coach Joachim Löw, which he has described as "the biggest mistake of my career," Kuranyi was kicked off the national team. Towards the end of his playing career, Kuranyi spent five years in Russia before hanging up his boots in 2017.