“Losing like this, with this ending, is very bitter,” lamented Toni Kroos after ending his career as a professional player with Germany’s defeat against Spain in the quarterfinals of the European Championship. “The dream was shattered,” continued the former Madrid player, who in May announced his retirement at the end of the season after confirming weeks before his return to Manschaaft for a final ‘last dance’ with his country.
The German genius closed his time in Madrid by lifting his sixth Champions League at Wembley and envisioned the final chapter in Berlin in the Euro Cup final. It was not to be as Mikel Merino’s now historic header in the 119th minute of added time in Stuttgart intervened in his fate.
The German, metronome of his team, starred in one of the most difficult games of his career exactly on his last day, with half a dozen fouls committed, including one that injured Pedri and another that stepped on Lamine inside just four minutes after dawn the eliminatory. There were others that Anthony Taylor didn’t even point out, that it was difficult to explain the standard over 120 minutes of play.
“Right now, the elimination is more important than anything else because all of Germany had a great goal together. It was a dream we had that was broken. In the next few days we will know that we played a great tournament and we can be proud ” Kroos explained. “There is a future and I will watch it on TV,” he joked in the mixed zone.
After the final whistle, Kroos, fit and cool as ever, received the love of his former teammates Nacho, Carvajal and Joselu, while the rest of the team’s players paraded in a respectful procession .
There are now 832 professional games left, including Bayern Munich (205), Leverkusen (48), Real Madrid (465) and the German national team (114), with a total of 79 goals. The achievements and memories that his unique football will leave behind are, surely, the most important German player in history after Franz Beckenbauer.
Kroos marked the time of his retirement at will, which he always wanted to be at the top. This time he was three steps away from glory on an unfortunate afternoon for him and his team, but the legend would prevail.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
