German midfielder Toni Kroos has confirmed to daily newspaper Kicker that he will be working at Real Madrid’s academy after his playing career. Euro 2024 will be the last opportunity to see 34-year-old Toni Kroos on the pitch.
Fortunately, the ‘8’ will continue to pass on his wisdom to the young players at the Fabrica, as he assured the German newspaper in an interview.
“Mainly with my family. I’m going to continue the podcast with my brother Félix. And I’ll be working at the Real Madrid academy. From September, the Icon League (a new futsal format) will also start. But it’s clear that I’m not going to get involved in 18 projects so that I can be as busy as I was when I was an active player,’ Kroos said of his plans after hanging up his boots.
Kroos explained his reasons for retiring: ‘I just want to be remembered as the 34-year-old Toni Kroos who had his best season with Real Madrid. I’ve already achieved that. I take it as a compliment that many people think I’m leaving too soon.“
On the subject of being Germany’s most successful player, Kroos said: ‘It’s very important to me. I’ve always wanted to win titles. Ever since I started playing football, I wanted to succeed. Every individual title was important to me, winning the Champions League was the big goal before every season. Achieving it means a lot to me.“
As the end of his career approaches, Kroos admits it’s sad, but it doesn’t change the way he approaches matches. “I’m very aware of it. But it doesn’t put me on alert and I don’t expect to break out in a cold sweat. The countdown has started and I want to approach these final matches in the same way as I approached the last Real Madrid matches, that is to say with as much success as possible.“
‘It’s clear to me that I’ll never be as talented at anything in life as I am at football,’ he added, describing himself as one of the best midfielders of all time.
Finally, Kroos said he believed Germany would win the European Championship on home soil on 14 July.