DFB comeback and end of career
Toni Kroos doesn’t rule out anything at all, just FC Bayern
By Stephan Uersfeld, Leipzig
February 12, 2024, 8:49 p.m
Is Toni Kroos returning to the DFB almost three years after his 106th international match, the European Championship exit against England? Will one of the best German players of all time end his career in the summer? Before the Champions League game he is peppered with questions. There is only one correct answer to one question.
At the end of an incredible career, Toni Kroos doesn’t just control the balls. He could always do that anyway. Now he also controls his future like he usually only controls the midfield. The most successful German player in premier class history is once again in Germany. This time it’s for his Real Madrid against RB Leipzig. The Royals are the big heroes of this pan-European league. It’s their competition. This season they want to win it for the 15th time – and the 34-year-old Kroos should lead them there.
But that’s not what this evening before the game in Leipzig is about. What interests everyone is what will come next. Kroos is now playing his tenth season at Real Madrid, the memories of his time in the Bundesliga have long since become blurry and those of his time in the national team are also becoming more fleeting. A few things could happen with Kroos this summer and a few things could not. Nobody knows what will happen next. Not even Kroos himself, he says. His contract with Real is expiring. Will he end his career, continue and even return to the DFB team for the 2024 European Championship?
This has been an issue in Germany for months. National coach Julian Nagelsmann has shown interest and is already in contact with him. Sports director Rudi Völler had recently spoken positively about the only world champion born in the former GDR, as did his Real colleague Antonio Rüdiger.
The decision must be made by March 14th
“There is this possibility. We will see whether I will decide on it,” said Kroos in Leipzig, keeping everything open. A little later, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti also had his say. “Toni Kroos,” he says, has the right to decide on a possible return. “The European Championships and then playing at home with Germany, that could work well,” adds the Italian.
These are surprisingly clear words from the two protagonists of this evening. The comeback offer seems to be very concrete. But the decision may not have been made yet. Kroos only has a month left until the squad for the final test matches before the home European Championship is named on March 14th. Or will both sides keep a low profile until the summer, perhaps only returning to the European Championships? The discussions won’t stop, the Greifswalder plays too strongly on the six at Real Madrid. It is a position that is still not properly filled in the national team. Despite actually great class, despite Joshua Kimmich and İlkay Gündoğan.
“Of course you have to think more defensively than on the 8,” says Kroos about his withdrawal to the defensive: “I’ve tried over the years to improve defensive behavior. With Real Madrid we field offensive teams, we always think offensively. I think “It’s always about what happens when someone loses the ball. And then you can go into a duel and even a header duel.”
Kroos enjoys the appreciation
People keep asking him that evening what makes him so good and whether there has ever been a better Kroos. In Madrid, it is clear that he is revered. In Madrid they don’t want to let go of this defining figure of the last decade. “I’m still thinking about what I’m going to do,” says Kroos about the question of the future as a footballer: “I haven’t made a decision yet. Many people want me to continue playing for another year. That’s a positive signal that they don’t want me to stop.”
But he always said that he wanted to quit at the highest level. His coach knows that. Ancelotti adds: “It could be this year or next year.” That’s how it is in football. Nobody can say when someone will no longer be able to keep up. It’s just that it will happen at some point, unless it doesn’t happen because your career will already be over.
The real season begins now
It’s been months of decision-making for the world star, who used to be often ridiculed in Germany, who can look back on five Champions League titles, three German and three Spanish championships, numerous other trophies and of course the World Cup title in 2014. The next attempt to achieve a historical record now begins in Leipzig. Only Francisco “Paco” Gento, the winger of the legendary Real team of the 1950s and 1960s, has been able to win the premier class, which was then the national champions’ cup, six times. Kroos could follow him in the summer.
“For Real Madrid,” says Kroos, “the real season doesn’t start until February.” Then when the knockout phase of the premier class starts and every game counts. When a bad day, like the 4-0 defeat against Manchester City in last year’s semi-final, can end everything. “Let’s see what’s left in me now,” he says, and is particularly pleased that football brings him so much joy.
“To be honest, my head surprises me more than my body. I started very young at the highest level. I was a professional at FC Bayern at the age of 17,” says Kroos: “That’s a lot of pressure over all these years. I thought that “I can last 15 years and then end my career. But I still have a lot of motivation. So it’s more the head that surprises me.”
The thing with FC Bayern
It sounds similar with Carlo Ancelotti, the quiet maestro with the chewing gum. Kroos never had ups and downs and always played with incredible passing accuracy and sharpness. “He already had that at FC Bayern. His qualities haven’t changed, they’re still the same,” explains the Italian: “He plays in a team with enormous energy. His qualities come out better there.”
So the future is wide open for Toni Kroos. He thinks from game to game to game and has to make decisions. On and off the pitch. But he has actually already met one. No, he will not return to FC Bayern. “That won’t happen,” he says when asked. He looks a little surprised. Because that really wasn’t to be expected that evening. Then he jumps off the podium. Final training for perhaps the last round of his career. Maybe not.