Is there a hammer for the home European Championship?
Toni Kroos is apparently really thinking about returning to the DFB
December 18, 2023, 9:51 p.m
After the messed up end to the year with the national team, national coach Julian Nagelsmann is putting everything to the test and looking for personnel alternatives. The name Toni Kroos has been hotly debated since this weekend – and rightly so?
Former world champion Toni Kroos can apparently imagine a comeback for the German national soccer team. This is reported by the “Bild” newspaper. The midfield star from Real Madrid originally ended his career in the DFB team in 2021 after 106 international matches after the round of 16 exit at the European Championships. The 33-year-old has been one of Real’s top performers since 2014. He won the Champions League four times with the Royals, after also triumphing in the premier class with Bayern in 2013.
National coach Julian Nagelsmann recently described a return as an “interesting thought” in the ZDF sports studio and added: “You have to think about all the players who have a German passport, I think that’s my job.” After the messed up end to the year with the defeats against Turkey and Austria, he is now putting everything to the test and looking for personnel alternatives – like Kroos? Nagelsmann revealed that he had not yet spoken specifically about it with the 2014 world champion. “I talk to him a lot about football, including the home European Championship.”
“When Toni plays, he does so with his pulse at 20.”
Antonio Rüdiger got the debate rolling. The national player recently said that he would like his colleague to return. “A player like him, who is still at such a high level, really has to be there. I ask him every day,” reported Rüdiger and enthused: “When Toni plays, it’s with a pulse of 20 and a passing game of one Another star – everything is great.”
Kroos confirmed the talks with the DFB defense chief. His reaction? “I had to think for a long time, he caught me off guard because I didn’t have that idea myself, it only came through him.” And yes, it gave him pause. He didn’t want to reveal what he answered Rüdiger. Kroos is experienced like no other, has achieved everything, experienced everything. He can give support to an unsettled team and, even at almost 34, his class is beyond any doubt.
However, the delicate hierarchy would be further shaken up with a comeback of the next Rio hero after Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels and, in March, Manuel Neuer. The fact that Kroos does not harmonize perfectly with captain Ilkay Gündogan in midfield was shown not least by the 2021 European Championship. And it is doubtful that he fits Nagelsmann’s new “worker” approach.