Ozil reveals the secret behind incredible control
The Germany international believes playing on a pitch full of stones in his youth helped him master his impecable technique when controlling the ball
In an interview with Arsenal Magazine, the German star revealed all, when asked about his touch...
"When I was younger, if I saw something lying around, I would try to juggle with it,"
"I would always go on vacation with my friends and we would always play games like two touch using a tennis ball, or play with a basketball, which is heavier than a normal ball
"[I didn't just play] with chewing gum or tennis balls, sometimes with basketballs or medicine balls too - even ones that are 5kg, though that is very difficult. Sometimes on the pitch if the game has finished and I see some tape on the floor, I'll take it and play with that too.
"What helped me before was playing against older people. I would play against my brother and his friends and they were always five or six years older than me.
"When I was 11, they were already 17 or 18. It was tough to play against them and the pitch I grew up playing on wasn't that nice, it always had stones on it.
"You had to be really concentrated when you got the ball. I think that kind of stuff helped me more.
"Juggling with tennis balls is good but I think what helped my technique was the pitch I grew up on in Gelsenkirchen."