Nuri Sahin says Borussia Dortmund teammate Mario Gotze is treated unfairly.
Gotze, 24, returned to Dortmund this summer after struggling to live up to expectations after his controversial move to Bayern Munich in 2013.
The Germany international did score the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina, but Sahin told Spox: "The amount of criticism he has to deal with, even though he is only 24, is insane.
"I don't even want to know what would have happened to him if somebody else had scored that [World Cup-winning] goal -- they would already be an untouchable legend.
"It sometimes pains me how harshly Mario is being judged, how he is treated by the public."
Gotze has been directly involved in 0.77 goals per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga, and provided nine goals and five assists in 32 appearances for club and country last season.
"He was injured many times, yet his goal and assist records were still formidable -- including last season's," he said.
Sahin, meanwhile, is trying to recover full form and fitness, having made only 21 appearances for Dortmund over the last two seasons due to a series of injury problems.
"I hope to get through the campaign without any injuries," he said. "In the last three years I was merely a tourist in preseason camps due to injuries. So far I haven't missed a single training session this summer."
The 27-year-old Turkey international made his debut for BVB when he was 16 years old and is still the youngest Bundesliga debutant to date.
He returned to Dortmund from Real Madrid in 2013 before signing a permanent deal the following year, and his contract is due to expire in 2018.