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'Singing the anthem stops players chewing gum' - Beckenbauer in veiled swipe at Ozil

The Bayern Munich official believes that players in the Germany national team need to show more passion if they are improve

Germany great Franz Beckenbauer has weighed in on the debate over the national team’s failure at the World Cup, suggesting that the squad needed to be hungrier in veiled swipes at Mesut Ozil.

Joachim Low’s side crashed out in the group stages in Russia, having suffered shock defeats against Mexico and South Korea.

Ozil was particularly targeted by the media as a reason for the failure, opening up a debate over racism towards the players of foreign-born heritage in the national team and leading him to quit international duty.