Serial winner Toni Kroos eyes two-trophy finish to career

BERLIN – Toni Kroos, a world champion and five-time Champions League winner, is eyeing two more major trophies after announcing on May 21 that he will retire after Euro 2024.

The 34-year-old, who had stepped down from international duty after Germany’s European Championship loss to England in 2021, has returned to the fold after answering a call from coach Julian Nagelsmann in February.

Euro 2024, which kicks off on June 14 when Germany face Scotland in Munich, will be the last time the 2014 World Cup winner plays competitively.

At club level, Kroos will play one final match for Real Madrid before the club’s home fans, against Real Betis on May 25, with the Spanish La Liga title already in the bag.

He will then face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final on June 1. In announcing his retirement, he said his “huge goal” was to “win that one at Wembley”.

Victory would mean a sixth Champions League trophy – his fifth with Real – equalling Real winger Paco Gento’s record set in 1966, the latest title in a glittering career.

Born in Greifswald, then part of East Germany, in 1990, Kroos joined Bayern Munich’s youth set-up from Hansa Rostock aged 16 and was promoted to the seniors just one year later.

He became Bayern’s youngest-ever professional player when he made his debut at 17 years and 265 days, laying on two assists for Miroslav Klose just 18 minutes after coming on.

In Bayern’s treble-winning season in 2012-13, Kroos was a cornerstone of a midfield featuring Germany teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger and Spaniard Javi Martinez.

The midfielder stayed for another season in the Bavarian capital after coach Pep Guardiola’s arrival, but left at the end of the campaign after Bayern reportedly refused to meet his salary demands.

He was close to a move to Manchester United under then manager David Moyes, but the deal fell through when the Scot was replaced by Louis van Gaal.

Instead, he moved to Real. There, he won four Champions Leagues, including three in a row from 2016 to 2018, along with an array of domestic league titles and Cups.

Known for his calmness and exceptional ability with the ball at his feet and picking out his teammates, Kroos has a 94 per cent pass completion rate in his 463 games with Real.

Bayern power broker Uli Hoeness later admitted his regret at letting Kroos leave, saying it was “maybe a mistake”.

Kroos made his Germany debut in 2010 in a 1-0 loss in a friendly against Argentina and came off the bench regularly in that year’s World Cup run to a third-place finish.

Having quickly established himself in midfield, he played every minute of Germany’s 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil, scoring two goals in the 7-1 demolition of the hosts in the semi-finals.

Before Euro 2016, then Germany coach Joachim Low called Kroos the “decisive player for us”, adding: “He always does well and is very economical in how he plays. He does not make many mistakes.”

Germany came up short though, losing 2-0 to France in the semi-finals.

Named German Footballer of the Year in 2018, Kroos signed off from international duty after Germany were eliminated by England at the Euro in 2021.

His return in early 2024 helped a new-look Germany win friendlies against France and the Netherlands, kick-starting a wave of optimism after several years of disappointment.

But on May 21, Kroos broke fans’ hearts by saying he wanted to step down from the game while at his peak.

Following the news, teammates past and present from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro to Luka Modric and Lucas Vazquez – who humorously tweeted Kroos a two-word vulgarity to state his displeasure – all paid tribute to the man himself and shared warm words.

Hours later, Kroos was pictured sunbathing while drinking orange juice at Real’s training ground.

That is who the 34-year-old is – cool, unbothered but ultimately a world-class player well-loved by his peers. AFP