Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan may have been fighting for Germany on the Wembley turf on Friday evening, but they were paying respects to their Turkish heritage just a day later.
The two Premier League stars both played as the current world champions were held to a 0-0 draw against England, and, following the result, Ozil took the chance to show his international team-mate around north London.
With both sharing a Turkish ancestry and north London renowned for its array of fine Middle Eastern eateries, the Arsenal star treated Gundogan to an experience at one of his local haunts, and shared the resulting meal with his Instagram followers.
Ozil posed for a photo with Gundogan at Likya, an unassuming Turkish restaurant located in Golders Green and included the caption: ‘Enjoying the perks of London with my bro @ilkayguendogan.
‘Thanks to the team at @Likyaturkish for having us tonight. #London #RoadToRussia.’
Both players have previously spoken about their strong connection to Turkey with the Manchester City midfielder admitting in 2012 that choosing to play for his adopted nation Germany was the hardest decision of his career.
Similarly, Ozil revealed in 2013 that he would ‘always’ consider himself to be Turkish and has previously expressed an interest in plying his trade in the country once his time at Arsenal is over.
On Sunday, Gundogan and Ozil will travel with the Germany squad back to their native homeland where Joachim Low will continue preparations for next summer’s defence of their World Cup title in Russia.
Their next fixture sees them take on European Championship runners up France at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne.
