A predictable outcome to the Mesut Oezil affair has prompted a predictable response. No one in the sorry tale is currently emerging with much credit.
Mesut Oezil quit the Germany team with a cutting attack on sponsors, media, the national federation (DFB) and its president in particular - but it is hard to see either side as anything other than losers in a sorry affair.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung paper referred to his decision as "the true defeat of the summer" while the renowned German football expert Raphael Honigstein wrote on ESPN his exit was "worse than any World Cup loss."
Oezil, in breaking his silence on Sunday over controversial pictures taken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the World Cup, was unrepentant and angry.
"I'm aware that the picture of us caused a huge response in the German media, and whilst some people may accuse me of lying or being deceitful, the picture we took had no political intentions," said Oezil, born in Gelsenkirchen with Turkish roots.
If that is true, it seems naive of him to think there would be no inferences drawn from the picture being taken just weeks before Erdogan stood for reelection given the ongoing political situation in Turkey.
Oezil was particularly furious with Reinhard Grindel, alleging the DFB president was uninterested in understanding his Turkish heritage and citing Grindel's previous comments - as a politician 14 years ago - against multiculturalism.
"I will no longer stand for being a scapegoat for [Grindel's] incompetence and ability to do his job properly," Oezil said.
"In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose. This is because despite paying taxes in Germany, donating facilities to German schools and winning the World Cup with Germany in 2014, I am still not accepted into society."
The Bild paper - which stressed it did not call for Oezil to be removed from the team after the picture - criticized him for not thanking coach Joachim Loew or the fans.
"And especially important: Mesut Oezil does not commit to values such as freedom of expression or tolerance," it said. "Values for which Germany and the DFB stand - but not the Turkish head of state Erdogan."
The Koelner Stadtanzeiger meanwhile questioned his choice of writing in English, saying it was "reverse chauvinism.
"He should never forget where he came from, his mother is supposed to have told him. What prevents him from remembering where he comes from?"
Oezil said he was not criticized for performances on the pitch in Russia but for his Turkish ancestry - though his level had slipped enough that Loew decided he could drop the 92-times capped player to the bench for the match against Sweden, the only game Germany won at the tournament.
Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness on Monday said Oezil had been playing "crap" for years and hadn't won a tackle since before the 2014 World Cup.
Oezil's form - like many in the Germany squad - had been weak going into Russia but the blustering Hoeness will know tackling is hardly the remit of the small, creative midfielder.
Loew will now attempt to rebuild his team while Germany - again - must look at the society it is building in a world which is multicultural, whether it is universally welcomed or not.
"What was to be feared and was emerging, has happened," Die Welt said. "The case of Mesut Oezil ends with losers on both sides."