Kroos comeback: A look at the top statistics

Comeback with top statistics

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What hasn’t been said and written about the DFB comeback of Toni Kroos, who was back in the national team’s squad on Saturday evening for the first time in almost three years: from the “Titanic signal” to the “Querpass-Toni”, the critics of the 107th -time national player was quite creative in her choice of words in advance – but the 34-year-old veteran dispelled any doubts about himself with a convincing performance. While he received praise from many quarters for his performance against France on Sunday, a detailed look at the statistics also shows how important the 2014 world champion can be for Germany at the home European Championships in the summer.

Kroos in the top 10: Most international matches for the German national team

25 Bernd Schneider – 81 international matches

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As of: March 2024

25 Karlheinz Förster – 81 international matches

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25 Wolfgang Overath – 81 international matches

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24 Arne Friedrich – 82 international matches

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23 Joshua Kimmich – 83 international matches

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22 Andreas Möller – 85 international matches

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20 Oliver Kahn – 86 international matches

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20 Andreas Brehme – 86 international matches

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19 Rudi Völler – 90 international matches

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18 Mesut Özil – 92 international matches

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16 Sepp Maier – 95 international matches

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16 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – 95 international matches

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15 Berti Vogts – 96 international matches

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14 Michael Ballack – 98 international matches

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13 Thomas Häßler – 101 international matches

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12 Franz Beckenbauer – 103 international matches

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11 Per Mertesacker – 104 international matches

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10 Jürgen Kohler – 105 international matches

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9 Toni Kroos – 107 international matches

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8 Jürgen Klinsmann – 108 international matches

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7 Philipp Lahm – 113 international matches

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6 Manuel Neuer – 117 international matches

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5 Bastian Schweinsteiger – 121 international matches

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4 Thomas Müller – 127 international matches

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3 Lukas Podolski – 130 caps

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2 Miroslav Klose – 137 caps

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1 Lothar Matthäus – 150 international matches

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The assist for the rehearsed 1-0 lightning goal by Florian Wirtz, 14 years his junior, was not the only fact that Kroos had to remember after 90 minutes. According to the analysis by data provider Opta, the midfielder had a total of 143 ball actions and a pass rate of 94.5 percent when he was substituted (for Waldemar Anton). The right-footer played 28 passes in the final third, his rate there is 85.7 percent. In addition, Kroos won 75 percent of his duels against Bleus, who performed below expectations. The returnee with a resting heart rate on the ball, even under opposition pressure, was the impetus and pacemaker, the head of a DFB team that suddenly had structure and leadership again. “It’s much more of a through pass than a cross pass. He is the connection player we imagined,” said Julian Nagelsmann, who played a key role in initiating the Greifswald native’s return in recent weeks.

“The most important thing is always how you put it in the net with the players around it,” the national coach continued. Kroos can make others better. And the 2014 world champion and five-time Champions League winner radiated the desire he has for the home European Championship in the summer in every action on Saturday evening – whether offensive or defensive.

Undav about Kroos: “People can be happy that he changed his mind”

“We can be very satisfied. We have taken a good step forward, an important step. These are slowly the last chances towards the European Championships to get a feeling. We’ll take that with us,” said Kroos, who, with 455 games, has by far the most games played by a German professional in the jersey of Spanish record champions Real Madrid. “Toni makes the game very easy for you,” enthused Jamal Musiala. And debutant Deniz Undav said what many must be thinking after Kroos’ 107th international match in Germany. “People can be happy that he has changed his mind again,” said Undav about his resignation.

Especially in the last two games, Germany had shown major problems getting the ball into the attacking third and into the opponent’s penalty area. In the defeat against Turkey last year, Nagelsmann’s team only played a total of 45 passes into the attacking third – since the elimination in the European Championship round of 16 against England 2021, the number has only been fewer against Spain at the 2022 World Cup (29). According to Opta, Kroos is one of the professionals who, on average, made the most passes per 90 minutes into the attacking third at major international tournaments since 2010 of all players with at least 1,000 minutes of action. In the ranking he is ahead of the Spaniards Xabi Alonso and Xavi, among others. Across all competitions, Kroos is in the lead in the 2023/24 season in terms of the average number of passes per 90 minutes (99), pass accuracy (95 percent), passes into the attacking third (16.3), tackles made (7.1) and tackles won (63 percent) ahead of the German national players Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Ilkay Gündogan and Pascal Groß. Kimmich had already been moved back to the right defensive wing by Nagelsmann, Groß was not used against France and Goretzka was not even called up.

Kroos over 100 games ahead of Stielike: German professionals at Real Madrid

10 Christoph Metzelder | 2007-2009 | 31 games | 0 goals

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11 Walter Rositzky (4 games in the 1913/14 season) without picture
As of: March 2024

9 Antonio Rüdiger | since 2022 | 83 games | 4 goals

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8 Bernd Schuster | 1988–1990 | 88 games | 16 goals

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7 Paul Breitner | 1974–1977 | 100 games | 10 goals

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6 Günter Netzer | 1973–1976 | 100 games | 13 goals

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5 Bodo Illgner | 1996–2001 | 119 games | 0 goals

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4 Mesut Ozil | 2010-2013 | 159 games | 27 goals

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3 Sami Khedira | 2010-2015 | 161 games | 9 goals

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2 Uli Stielike | 1977–1985 | 308 games | 50 goals

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1 Toni Kroos | since 2014 | 455 games | 28 goals

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Will Kroos be the DFB savior at the home European Championship? TM community discussed

It remains undisputed that Kroos also failed to impress in the Germany jersey during his last two major tournaments. In 2018 in Russia, the DFB team as defending champions were embarrassingly eliminated in the preliminary round, and in 2021 they failed prematurely in the knockout round against England. However, the veteran’s comeback is not only based on nostalgic values ​​but on current figures and facts: both the 99 passes per 90 minutes and the duel success rate of 63 percent in the current season are his personal bests in the Real jersey. “It’s enough to look at the statistics,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti recently when asked about the value of his aging protégé, who moved from FC Bayern to Los Blancos in 2014 for a fee of 25 million euros.

With Greenwood, Lamine Yamal & Díaz: Biggest market value winners in LaLiga

Marc Guiu | FC Barcelona | +5 Mio. €

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New market value: €25 million

Kirian Rodríguez (re.) | UD Las Palmas | +6 Mine. €

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Kike Salas | FC Sevilla | +6 Mine. €

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Hector Fort | FC Barcelona | +6.5

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Juanlu Sánchez | FC Sevilla | +7 Mio.€

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Alvaro Valles | UD Las Palmas | +7 Mio. €

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Mason Greenwood | FC Getafe | +7,5

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Hugo Duro | FC Valencia | +8

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Andriy Lunin | Real Madrid | +8

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Ilias Akhomach | Villarreal FC | +9

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Savio | FC Girona | +10

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Isaac Romero | FC Sevilla | +14.6

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Yamal foils | FC Barcelona | +15 million €

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Brahim Diaz | Real Madrid | +15

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Samu Omorodion | Deportivo Alavés | +20 Mio. €

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Pau Cubarsí | FC Barcelona | +23.5 Mio. €

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Kroos’ performance against France was also largely viewed positively in the TM community. “That was a strong performance from Kroos. “Exactly what is expected from a Real Madrid director and veteran,” wrote the user “Triplejupp” in the DFB forum. And user “Dreisambock” admits: “Well, Kroos proved me wrong today. Especially in defensive timing (space and duels) far better than the Kroos from 2018-2021. Great job. I hope he keeps his bite.” And the user “Walloschke_B” writes: “Nagelsmann has done a lot of things right. Kroos setting the pace and a real six next to him – that is the most important key for me. He found it.”

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2024-03-24 22:35:00
#Kroos #anchor #DFB #midfield