Özil named Germany 'National Team Player of the Year 2015'

He wasn’t ever going to have an empty-handed 2014. On the night of the 13th July, Mesut Özil lifted the World Cup trophy in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana. He was, however, forced to give up his Player of the Year title, as Toni Kroos picked up the most votes in 2014. Now though, Özil is back.

In the Fan Club vote for the Germany National Team Player of the Year 2015 powered by Coca-Cola, Özil received a total of 45.9 % of the votes, and has been named Player of the Year for the fourth time in his career. More than 51,000 fans voted for the Arsenal midfielder, who finished above Bayern Munich’s Thomas Müller (15.9 %) in second place. Jonas Hector of FC Köln, the only player to appear in all nine of Germany’s matches over the year, received 13.6 % of the vote and third place. In total, 13 players were nominated.

93 Kilometres, 612 Passes: Özil's stats with Germany in 2015

Mesut Özil is a fan favourite. Over in London, he’s just been named Arsenal Player of the Month for the third time in a row. This is no surprise, give his scintillating form so far this season. DFB.de have the numbers behind his equally impressive performances for Germany this year.

Minutes on the pitch: Mesut Özil was involved in eight out of nine international matches in 2015. On average, he played 94.38 minutes per game (the matches against Georgia and Ireland lasted 97 minutes). The Arsenal star was on the pitch for 755 minutes, missing out only in the friendly against France.

Distance covered: In the eight games he played for Germany, Özil ran a total of 92.71 kilometres – an impressive average of 11.59 km per game. He covered the most ground in the opening match of 2015 against Australia (a 2-2 draw in Kaiserslautern), running 12.46 km and winning 75% of his tackles - also his best rate of 2015. In June against Gibraltar, Özil completed 19 sprints, covering 417.2 metres.

Shots on goal: Mesut Özil recorded 14 shots on goal over the course of 2015. Despite that, he prefers to assist goals rather than score them. The midfield maestro set up six goals in 2015, three of which came in the 7-0 win over Gibraltar. In the important 2-1 victory over Georgia in October, he assisted both of Germany’s goals. The unselfish Özil ensured multiple successes for Germany in 2015.

Passing: In Germany’s win over Georgia in Leipzig, Özil made 101 passes, 86 of which were successful – a passing accuracy of 85%. Özil was most effective in the game against USA, where 94% of his passes found their intended target. Overall, he made 612 passes in the year - an average of 76.5 per 90 minutes.

Previous Germany Players of the Year: