Bundesliga, poker, scandals
Max Kruse ends his illustrious career
December 20, 2023, 7:09 p.m
Over and over: Max Kruse, one of the most colorful figures, is officially retiring from German football. The 14-time national player was brilliant on the ball – but he repeatedly caused scandals off the pitch. Joachim Löw probably won’t congratulate him on his retirement.
Former national soccer player Max Kruse has announced the end of his career. Around four weeks after terminating his contract with second division club SC Paderborn, the 35-year-old announced in a live video on Instagram that evening that he was retiring from sports with immediate effect.
The attacker’s move was not unexpected. In Paderborn, the 14-time national player performed well below expectations after his much-noticed move to League Two in the summer and only played 194 minutes due to injury. His previous engagement with VfL Wolfsburg ended prematurely in November 2022 with the termination of his contract, after which he was without a club for more than half a year.
In the Bundesliga, the often brilliant Kruse played 307 games for Werder Bremen, St. Pauli, Freiburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfL Wolfsburg and Union Berlin and scored 97 goals. There was also a one-year engagement with Fenerbahçe Istanbul (2019/20).
Scandals and a marriage proposal
Kruse played in the national team from 2013 to 2015 under national coach Joachim Löw before he dispensed with the extroverted striker. As Kruse later admitted, Löw was annoyed that the professional made his private life too public. He later was part of the national team that took part in the 2021 Olympic tournament – and proposed to his girlfriend at the time live on TV.
Kruse also liked to attract attention off the pitch. In 2009 he rapped half-naked about sex workers and sex practices, in 2013 he bought a flashy Maserati in camouflage colors, and he is said to have had ladies visiting him in the team hotel with the DFB team. When a “Bild” reporter took photos of him without asking in a Berlin nightclub in 2016, he quickly took her cell phone and deleted the photos. The list goes on. Löw then finally kicked Kruse out of the DFB team.
In addition, Kruse impressed not only on the football field, but also at the poker table. When he won 75,000 euros at a tournament in Berlin, he forgot the money in a taxi.