Arsenal stars Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac were all smiles this morning a day after they were chased for a mile by knife-wielding carjackers.
Kolasinac showed himself walking alongside his teammate in a tweet captioned, ‘Think we’re all fine’.
Ozil, a £350,000-a-week midfielder, was ambushed by the robbers as he drove his black Mercedes G-Class through leafy Childs Hill at around 5pm on Thursday.
But as the thugs surrounded the 4×4, Ozil’s Arsenal teammate and childhood friend, Sead ‘The Tank’ Kolasinac, leapt out and bravely took them on.
CCTV footage from the scene shows Kolasinac swinging punches at the attackers and standing his ground against them despite being threatened with a knife. The attackers’ motorbike pulls away as the footage cuts.
But rather than that being the end of the drama, the players were then chased through the mansion-lined streets of north London in Ozil’s 4×4 in a high-speed chase that lasted for more than a mile.
Ozil sped off and overtook traffic on the wrong side of the road as ‘ninja style’ masked moped muggers gave chase.
Kolasinac showed himself walking alongside his teammate in a tweet captioned, ‘Think we’re all fine’
As the front passenger-side door of the vehicle hangs precariously open with Mesut Ozil inside, Sead Kolasinac can be seen facing off one of the attackers who appears to be wielding a blade
Kolasinac can be seen darting from the front end of the car to the rear as he faces off the assailants while protecting the passenger side door of the SUV
Mesut Ozil (dyed blonde hair) was pictured talking to officers outside Turkish restaurant Likya on Golders Green Road in north London after the wild attack
Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac’s terrifying route through north London on Thursday afternoon as two motorbike engines revved behind Ozil’s G-Wagon
Security staff are pictured outside Ozil’s home this morning after the star’s terrifying ordeal yesterday afternoon as armed thugs on scooters tried to carjack his Mercedes vehicle
The childhood friends sped towards a Turkish restaurant on Golders Green Road where they are known, and staff raced to their aid as they abandoned the Mercedes 4×4 in the road.
Witnesses said 30-year-old Ozil looked ‘terrified,’ as the waiters and chefs rushed to defend their friend.
One witness told MailOnline: ‘I saw Ozil being chased up my High Street by boys armed with knives.’
Simon Collins, 46, said the moped riders chased Ozil’s car past Likya Turkish restaurant before the World Cup winning footballer did a ‘u-turn’ back towards the restaurant, and the moped riders sped off.
‘They were carrying roof tiles,’ he said. ‘The Arsenal players were speeding away from them. They were chasing them and came up to traffic.
‘Ozil’s wagon tried to get away and went around the traffic to try to speed away. He had to go on the wrong side of the road. It was all under the speed limit.
‘The moped guys dropped the tiles, and had to quickly jump off and pick them up.’
He added: ‘Clearly it was their intention to chuck the tiles at the car window and smash it.’
CCTV footage captured before the chase began shows burly 6ft Bosnian Kolasinac squaring up to and rushing at a robber whose face is obscured by a crash helmet.
The 26-year-old darts toward the front end of the Mercedes to face off an attacker as he makes sure the front passenger door is protected.
Mesut Ozil (far right), his wife Amine Gulse (far left) with Sead Kolasinac and his bride Bella Kolasinac on their wedding day last month in Baden, Germany
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks as best man to Ozil at his wedding to Amine Gulse by the Bosphorus in Istanbul last month
The fullback then turns to the rear of the vehicle to steam towards an oncoming assailant who appears to be wielding a blade while wearing a motorbike helmet.
At this point Ozil is able to drive forward in the £100,000 SUV as Kolasinac swings his bare-fists at the thug.
Off camera, Kolasinac was able to rejoin Ozil in the car and they sped away together, pursued by the raiders.
Waiters and chefs from Turkish restaurant Likya rushed to the aid of the football stars when they arrived forcing the riders to flee empty handed.
Neither of the Premier League players from the north London club were harmed during the incident.
Financial worker Azuka Alintah, 36, told the MailOnline: ‘Ozil looked absolutely terrified, as anybody would after being chased by men with knives.
‘He looked like he was running for his life. And I suppose he was.
‘I saw him disappear into the restaurant with the motorcycle guys on his tail.
‘They didn’t take off their helmets and were all in black, wearing long sleeved tops in this hot weather. They stood out.
‘God knows what would have happened if they’d caught him. It looked to me like he’d have been hacked to shreds and he clearly thought so too.
‘As soon as the restaurant staff started to come to the window and to the doorway, they turned around and roared off.’
Kolasinac’s fearless defence of his teammate is unsurprising to many Gunners fans who saw how Ozil took the Bosniak under his wing when he joined the north London club in 2017.
The pair have been friends since their teenage years, when Kolasinac looked up to the five-years-older Ozil when they were both at German side Schalke 04.
They became exceptionally close and last month they were pictured together at Kolasinac’s marriage to Bella, alongside Ozil’s wife Amine Gulse in Baden, Germany.
Indeed, both Bella and Amine wore wedding dresses by the same designer at their recent ceremonies. The Ozils’ wedding in Instanbul took place in the same week as the Kolasinac’s and Turkey’s President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan was Ozil’s best man.
After yesterday’s attack, Ozil’s car, with distinctive gold trim, was left in the middle of the Golders Green Road with the driver’s door open.
After police arrived they blocked off the road as other units looked for the motorcycle raiders.
The brazen attack took place near to the busy Golders Green Road and tube station in north London.
Ozil and Kolasinac had only returned to London the day before after a successful pre-season tour in America.
Mesut Ozil and his wife Amine in a recent social media posting. The football star was unharmed in the attack
The fearless 6ft fullback can be seen bravely lunging at the assailant bare-fisted as Mesut Ozil puts his foot on the gas
Kolasinac can be seen taking on one of the attackers who wears a helmet and appears to be wielding a weapon
Fellow Gunners star Sead Kolasinac was seen warding off the attackers with his bare hands after leaping from the luxurious Mercedes
A motorbike can be seen in the foreground after the attackers boxed in the SUV – Kolasinac (wearing a baseball cap) wastes no time in getting out to protect his teammate
Mesut Oszil (dyed blonde hair) can be seen talking to officers after the attack outside a Turkish restaurant he dived into to escape
Ozil abandoned his car in the middle of the road and fled on foot, ducking into the Turkish restaurant Likya
Staff at the Turkish restaurant Likya (above) in Golders Green refused to comment on the drama that unfolded when the Arsenal star sprinted inside to get away from the attackers
The pair gave statements to police before being allowed to leave.
A former neighbour of Ozil said he has been targeted five times in the area.
The unnamed resident said he had a knife held to his neck in one incident, and called for police to ‘pull their finger out’ after a spate of crimes in that part of north-west London.
‘I’ve been done five times myself,’ he said. ‘I had a knife held to my neck at midday at the traffic lights, I was physically thrown in a bus lane at 6.30am when I was coming out of my office – the list goes on and on.
‘The last time [it happened] I was at the property,’ he added.
An Arsenal spokesman confirmed the players were involved in the failed carjacking, saying: ‘We have been in contact with both players and they are fine.’
The footballers were in action just the day before as the Premier League side played Real Madrid in 2-2 draw in Washington DC before a late night transatlantic flight.
Renowned Arsenal fan Piers Morgan tweeted: ‘Incredible guts from Sead Kolasinac – looks like he took on the whole moped/knife gang.’
The attack in Golders Green took place close to where comedian Michael McIntyre was forced to hand over his expensive watch after being set upon by an armed moped gang.
Mr MacIntyre had been parked outside his children’s school in Golders Green when the brazen thugs smashed up his car and ripped the £15,000 timepiece from him.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said on Thursday: ‘Police were called to NW3, shortly before 5pm on Thursday, 25 July to reports of an attempted robbery.
‘It was reported that suspects on motorbikes had attempted to rob a man who was driving a car.
Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac in a warm up session in Los Angeles earlier this month as part of their pre-season – they had only just returned from the States the night before the attack
‘The driver, along with his passenger, managed to get away unharmed and travelled to a restaurant in Golders Green, where they were spoken to by officers. There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue.’
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