When Mesut Ozil got his hands on the ball, it was as if he had cast a spell on the crowd, and they watched them in awe as he played.
Regrettably for Troy Deeney and Nathan Ake, they discovered that the silky German midfielder had the same effect on players from the opposing team.
During the FA Cup quarterfinal match between Watford and Arsenal in March 2016, Deeney and Ake faced off against Ozil. The match took place at the Emirates Stadium.
Due to the fact that they were playing at home and the fact that they had a large number of talented players on their roster, Arsenal entered the match as the favourites.
In spite of this, Deeney and his teammates at Watford ‘felt confident’ that they could achieve their goal, even though it would not be achieved through playing pretty football.
According to what Deeney shared with talkSPORT.com, “Our whole thing was to be nasty, horrible.”
“In those days, if you left it as a nice football match, you’d have got d***** because of Ozil.”
Quique Sanchez Flores, who was the manager of the Hornets at the time, decided to utilise a 4-4-2 formation, which consisted of four central midfielders, in order to counteract the danger posed by Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, and the other stars in Arsenal’s lineup.
On the other hand, when Ozil started to weave his magic across the turf, there was not much that anyone could do about it.
Deeney will remember a particular moment in particular for a very long time because Ozil demonstrated a skill that the former will “never forget.” This moment will live on in Deeney’s memory forever.
“I remember trying to chase back and help, this was at 0-0,” Deeney explained to reporters.
“He (Ozil) cut back and then he nutmegged Nathan Ake and ran around him and crossed it.”
Once Ozil had successfully wriggled free of Ake with the lightest of touches, he then passed the ball back to Joel Campbell, who then placed it in the path of Mohamed Elneny.
In a manner that was extremely frustrating for Ozil, Elneny’s attempt that was just inside the 18-yard box went over the bar.
In the case of Deeney, a video recording of the event showed him merely standing there, completely captivated by Ozil’s skill.
“I remember in that moment going, ‘Oh my f****** god,'” Deeney said in response.
I was approached by Nathan Ake as we were running back, and he asked me, ‘Did that just happen?’ I was thinking to myself, “Yep, that just occurred.”
“It was without a doubt one of the most impressive abilities I’ve ever witnessed. Are you aware of the times when you are so immature that you completely forget that you are competing in a quarterfinal?
Watford was able to keep the game scoreless going into halftime, despite the fact that Ozil was playing exceptionally well.
It was the away team that took the lead in an unexpected manner, thanks to a goal scored by Odion Ighalo and an assist from Deeney in the 55th minute.
Then, thirteen minutes later, Deeney provided his second assist of the day, this time for Adlene Guedioura, who was playing in the middle of the pitch.
Before he spotted Guedioura, who had made a lung-bursting run to get forward, the striker chested the ball down to his feet inside the box and held off Arsenal’s Per Metersacker. Guedioura was able to get forward.
The Algerian player unleashed what the Watford striker referred to as “the hardest shot I’ve ever seen.” Deeney complied with the request and passed the ball to the Algerian player.
“It was one of those when you set him, ‘Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, oh f***, that went in,” Deeney explained to reporters.
“It was a great goal.”
When Danny Welbeck scored a goal for Arsenal in the 88th minute, he had the potential to make things interesting; however, the goal ended up being nothing more than a consolation.
More was to come for Deeney on that particular day, despite the fact that he had just won by a score of 2-1 and had a semi-final match scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium.
While he was driving back from the Emirates, he received a phone call from none other than the legendary musician and honorary Watford life president Sir Elton John, who offered his congratulations.
‘Pretty f****** cool’ is how Deeney described the experience of receiving a phone call from the 78-year-old.
“On your phone it says, ‘Maybe Los Angeles, maybe Beverley Hills,'” Deeney informed the audience.
Despite the fact that I had no idea who it was, I went ahead and picked it up. To put it another way, he was saying, “Hi, Troy, it’s Elton.” I just finished watching the game, and I wanted to take a moment to congratulate you and the rest of the team on your outstanding performance.
What Deeney referred to as a “mint day” was certainly capped off with a phone call from John, which was the ideal way to accomplish this.
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