EM self-confident Kroos
“I don’t expect Friday to be my last game”
Status: 3:07 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Toni Kroos talks about preparation for the quarter-finals
Germany is in the quarter-finals of the European Football Championship. Toni Kroos answers journalists’ questions before the match against Spain. Watch the press conference on WELT TV here.
Toni Kroos is close to the end of his extraordinary career. He is convinced that the European Championship quarter-final against Spain will not be the last highlight. Contrary to other opinions, the match will be decided in his sphere of influence.
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With the European Championship quarter-finals on Friday (6 p.m., ARD/Magenta TV and live ticker on welt.de) in Stuttgart, Toni Kroos will play his 114th international match – against his colleagues from his adopted home of Spain, of all teams. After announcing his retirement after the continental championships, it is clear that it is not meant to be, but it could be the last game of a great career.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kroos spoke at the team headquarters in Herzogenaurach about his impending departure, which he would like to postpone for a few days – ideally until the final of the European Championship in Berlin the Sunday after next. His performance was not only extremely optimistic, but also very self-confident. The veteran sent out clear signals: We deserve to be in this game, there is no room for self-doubt.
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“I am aware that I will not play football after the tournament. But it will be something different to experience it then. But I am not afraid of it,” he said. “I am not nostalgic at all. I do not expect Friday to be my last game.”
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The exceptional German player confirmed that the situation had fundamentally changed after three wins in four games. “There were a lot of doubts before the tournament. We achieved a certain minimum goal. Regardless of how things go from here, we will no longer talk about a catastrophe. Nevertheless, we set ourselves the goal of winning the tournament. We wanted to be here.” But our own motivation is to go even further.
Game-deciding wingers? Kroos denies
At national team level, the European Championship triumph is the second biggest title a player can win. “So that would of course be a sensational end. The plan to return was linked to the goal of becoming European champion,” said Kroos about his comeback in March 2024, made possible by national coach Julian Nagelsmann, with the two international matches against France (2-0) and the Netherlands (2-1). “We have a different belief now, we are now winning games that we would not have won before.”
Thunderstorm interruption and VAR whirlwind – Germany’s quarter-finals in video
Germany wins a memorable round of 16 match. After a long thunderstorm interruption, the VAR is in the spotlight twice within a few seconds: Denmark’s lead is taken away, then the DFB team celebrates a penalty. The highlights in the video.
There was a lot of quality on both sides of the pitch on Friday, said Kroos. But unlike many experts, he did not see the Spanish wing pairing of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams as the decisive factor for the outcome of the match. Rather, it was his area of activity, the center, that mattered. “Such games are decided in the middle,” said Kroos: “Whoever can control the game more has a better chance of winning. Actions on the wings can also be game changers, but both teams want to have the ball.”
