Mesut Özil
Mesut Özil was born on 15 October 1988 in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. His grandfather moved as a "Gastarbeiter" from Zonguldak, Turkey to Germany. He played, at youth level, for various clubs in Gelsenkirchen during 1995~2000, before a five-year stint for Rot-Weiss Essen.