Germany icon and Real Madrid legend Toni Kroos will not be a professional football player next month, and the end could come as soon as Friday. At least that it is what Spain striker and former Real Madrid teammate Joselu Mato is hoping, but Kroos has explained that it doesn’t bother him too much.
Joselu raised one or two eyebrows when he stated that he was hoping to end Kroos’ career before the weekend, although naturally that is implied by a Spanish victory. Two of the favourites for the tournament meet in a crunch match, and Joselu’s comments might have spiced things up, but Kroos had no issue with them.
“It’s normal, they want to win the tournament. I will try everything to make sure that doesn’t happen like that. They are here to win, so are we. We’ll see what happens on Friday. The important thing is that they didn’t want to retire me from Madrid. They are my friends.”
“He said it because he wants to win. I understand that it is his idea that he wants Spain to go to the semi-finals, but I think that Germany has many qualities to prevent Spain from going through. It will be an exciting match, the opposite of boring. It is fun what he is saying,” he told Marca.
On a more general note, Kroos was asked how he was handling the prospect of the Euro 2024 quarter-final being his final match.
“Of course it’s in your head, but it doesn’t bother me, it’s a motivation to think that it’s not the last game just yet. I experienced it in the round of 16 against Denmark, but it didn’t bother me. It’s a motivation to extend it as much as possible. It was my decision, I know the situation and I can lead with it. I want to get to the final and I will be happy without football, but I still hope to extend it a little longer.”
The 34-year-old midfielder has won every major honour available to him in the game, except for the Euros, and is angling for arguably the most successful retirement year ever. Picking up a Liga and Champions League double, Kroos himself has referred to it previously as his best year individually too.
