Toni Kroos

At 34 years old, Toni Kroos has this physical status:

Toni Kroos (born 4 January 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays for Real Madrid and the German national team.

Kroos is best known as a central midfielder, but he can also be used as a defensive midfielder or a deep-lying playmaker.

Born is regarded as one of the world's best midfielders, with his vision, imagination, passing, and set-piece skills.

He was sparingly used, and he quickly decided for an 18-month loan spell with Bayer Leverkusen, where he was a key player, and returned to his parent club with a high profile in 2010.

Kroos was then essential for the Bavarian team, winning two consecutive league titles, a UEFA Champions League trophy, and two DFB-Pokal titles.

He was also selected in the youth squad of the season three times before being sent to Spain by Real Madrid in 2014, where he was a key part of the team under new head coach Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, and he continued to help Real Madrid win three consecutive Champions League titles from 2015–18, each time being chosen in the squad for the season.

He also played a significant role in the club's La Liga title in 2016-17, when he was also selected for the team of the season.

Kroos was also voted into both the FIFPro World XI and UEFA Team of the Year in 2016 and 2017, and has won more titles, including five FIFA Club World Cup titles.

Kroos was named German Footballer of the Year by a panel of journalists and the publication kicker in 2018. Kroos made his senior debut for Germany in 2010 after a fruitful youth international career in which he won the Golden Player award and finished as the top goalscorer in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in 2006 and placed second in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, winning the Golden Ball award for best player at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

He scored his first international goal in 2011 in a friendly match against Poland, and since then he has been a key to the national team, playing in every major tournament Germany has qualified for, starting with the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Kroos led his country to victory in that year's World Cup, where he was the top assist provider and was chosen to the All-Star team and Dream Team.

He was also named German Player of the Year.

Kroos was selected to the Team of the Tournament at UEFA Euro 2016 in UEFA.

Personal life

Kroos was born in Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, on January 4th, 1990. Felix Kroos, his younger brother, was also a professional footballer, was a fan of his. Roland Rostock, his father, works as a youth mentor for Hansa Rostock. During his youth, he was a bad student and spent a lot of time playing football, but he was well-behaved in class and respected among his peers at school.

On June 13, Kroos married Jessica Farber, his long-serving girlfriend. They have two sons and a daughter. He owns a house on Mallorca's island.

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Club career

Kroos played for Greifswalder SC, later moving to Hansa Rostock's youth team. In 2006, Kroos joined Bayern Munich's youth department. Due to preparation, Kroos was off for up to 40 days during the school year.

Kroos was promoted to Bayern's senior team in 2007-08, at the age of 17. He started his Bundesliga career off right by defeating Energie Cottbus and twice assisting Miroslav Klose in 18 minutes as a replacement. Kroos was the youngest player to represent Bayern in a professional match at 17 years, 265 days old, a record that was not broken by David Alaba in 2010.

Kroos gave Bayern a big win over Red Star Belgrade on their UEFA Cup debut on October 25th, starting as a replacement in the 81st minute and providing an assist for Miroslav Klose and then scoring the winning goal, his first for the club in stoppage time. In a 3–1 loss at VfB Stuttgart, he made his first appearance for the club.

Kroos had 20 appearances for Bayern in his first season, including six starts. In the Regionalliga Süd, he scored three goals in 12 appearances for Bayern Munich II.

Despite being picked to begin in Bayern's 2008-09 Bundesliga match against Hamburger SV, the Kroos appeared less often for die Roten during the first half of the 2008–09 season. In matchday four of the group stage, he made his UEFA Champions League debut against Fiorentina on November 5th.

Bayern welcomed Kroos to Bayer Leverkusen on an 18-month loan to gain their first team experience on January 31, 2009. In a 1–0 loss to Hannover 96, he made his debut on February 28th as a replacement. He made his first Bundesliga appearance for Leverkusen on April 12th, assisting the team's goal in a 1–1 draw with Werder Bremen. In a 2–1 loss to VfL Wolfsburg on April 18, he scored his first Bundesliga goal.

Kroos appeared as a late replacement in the 2009 DFB-Pokal Final against Werder Bremen, where Leverkusen was defeated 1–0 by a Mesut zil goal.

Kroos appeared in all leagues during the 2008-2009 season, scoring once.

Kroos made a name for himself in Leverkusen's team in 2009–10, appearing in just one of Bayer's Bundesliga matches. Kroos' five goals and four assists in five Bundesliga matches, earning him back-to-back "player of the month" awards from kicker in December 2009 and January 2010.

He had nine goals and 12 assists from 33 games as the season came to an end.

Kroos returned to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2010, following the termination of his loan at Bayer Leverkusen. Kroos said, "I want to play as often as possible" when asked about his first team prospects with Bayern, runner-up in the previous season's Champions League.

He started against Germania Windeck in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on August 16, scoring his third goal in a 4–0 victory. In a 4–1 win over SC Freiburg on October 29, he scored his first league goal for the club. Kroos was a regular starter for Bayern in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and Champions League during the 2010–11 seasons. He played in all leagues for 37 games this season.

Kroos established himself as the first choice player from Bayern during 2011-12 under Jupp Heynckes, his former coach at Leverkusen, establishing a strong midfield partnership with national team colleague Bastian Schweinsteiger. He appeared in 51 games during the season, including the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, in which Bayern were defeated on penalties by Chelsea at the Allianz Arena.

Kroos was a key player in Bayern's treble-winning team from 2012-2013. Kroos scored three goals in the team's first four Bundesliga matches as the most advanced player of a midfield featuring Schweinsteiger and Javi Martez. In Bayern's opening group match against Valencia, he scored his first Champions League goal. Kroos was out for the remainder of the season after suffering with an injury in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Juventus, and in 2013 DFB-Pokal Finals, the last seven matches of the Bundesliga season.

Kroos returned to action for the 2013-14 season as well as participation in the German Super Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. In a 1–1 draw against former Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on October 4, 2013, he scored his first goal of the season. In the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup, he appeared in two matches for Bayern. The first was against Guangzhou Evergrande in the 3–0 semi-final victory on December 17, 2013 and the team defeated Raja Casablanca 2–0 in the final.

Kroos scored his second goal of the season on February 19th in a 2–0 Champions League victory over Arsenal. Bayern announced as Bundesliga champions on Friday, after scoring in a 3–1 victory over Hertha BSC.

Kroos had a contract to join Manchester United before signing terms with David Moyes prior to joining Real Madrid. However, Moyes was fired and Louis van Gaal was hired, the Dutch manager decided against signing Kroos. Carlo Ancelotti called him about the 2014 World Cup about a year ago.

Real Madrid, a Spanish La Liga club, announced on July 17 that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Kroos after a six-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Kroos were estimated between €24 and €30 million in the newspaper. Greifswalder SV 04, the successor to his first youth team, received €60,000 from the transfer.

After Günter Netzer, Paul Breitner, Uli Stielike, Bernd Schuster, Bodo Illgner, Christoph Metzelder, Mesut zil, and Sami Khedira, Kroos became the ninth German player to join Real Madrid, the ninth German player. Real Madrid is the "most club in the country," according to his address, and is a "cut above Bayern." On August 12, 2014, he appeared in his debut match against Sevilla in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup, winning his first trophy at Real Madrid.

He was a member of a midfield trio with James Rodrin and Luka Modri that led Real Madrid to a 22-game winning streak late in the year. Kroos scored his first goal for Real Madrid on Monday in a 5–1 victory over Rayo Vallecano at home. He was assisting the team in winning the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup in December and was top in assists in the tournament. He was selected to the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year.

Ancelotti's reign was inherited by Rafa Bentez in Madrid's command in 2015. Bentez was recalled in the middle of the season by Zinedine Zidane, under whose banner Kroos continued to be a key midfield player. "We signed Toni because we want him to be a part of an era," Zidane said of Kroos, who is "ideal for Madrid." He was a regular starter when the team defeated the Champions League in 2015-2016, his second Champions League trophy. Los Blancos' victory at San Siro made Kroos the first-ever German to lift the Champions League trophy with two clubs.

He signed a new deal until 2022 on October 12, 2016, and by the end of the year, he was still nominated to the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year. Real Madrid defeated Celta Vigo by 2-1 in the 81 minutes of the game against Celta Vigo, as Real Madrid won their first home game of the La Liga season.

He was a regular starter in La Liga, 2016-17 La Liga, and later defended their crown in the 2016–17 Champions League. He became the first German player to win the trophy three times. Kroos was the most popular player under Zidane from 2016-17.

He made twelve appearances in the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League, winning their third consecutive and 13th overall Champions League crown.

Kroos claimed his fifth FIFA Club World Cup victory on December 22, 2018, beating Al Ain FC by a 4–1 margin in the final. He signed his deal with the club until 2023 on May 20, 2019.

Kroos opened his goal account for the campaign against Celta Vigo at Balados on August 17, 2019 in a 3–1 victory with a long-range goal. In his 100th appearance in the Champions League, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win over Galatasaray on October 22, 2019.

Kroos scored his first Supercopa goal in Jeddah on January 8, 2020, after Los Blancos defeated 3-1. Real Madrid took the Supercopa three days after defeating Atlético Madrid on penalties. Kroos scored against Celta Vigo on Sunday, this time in a 2–2 league tie at the Bernabeu. This was his sixth goal against the Galician club, meaning he scored against them more than any other team in his career.

Kroos scored Real Madrid's first official goal at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium in just four minutes on June 16, when La Liga revived from a three-month suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Real Madrid won the 2019-20 La Liga with Kroos playing in all 11 matches post lockdown one month later. Kroos' season came to an end on August 8th as City defeated Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 (4–2 on aggregate). Despite a slow start to the season, Kroos had their best season in White netting six goals in all leagues.

Kroos scored his first El Clásico goal against Barcelona in the 28th minute at the Di Stefano Stadium, who then defeated Los Blancos by a crucial 2–1 league victory, advancing the Blancos to the top of the standings on the competition. This was Kroos' first free kick goal for Real Madrid in just his sixth attempt. Kroos claimed his fifth title in the tournament, scoring two goals in twelve appearances in 2021–22.

Kroos began his 2022-23 season with defeating Eintracht Frankfur for his fourth UEFA Super Cup. This match will be deemed 'important' by fans as KCM (Kroos, Casemiro, and Modri). Casemiro is set to meet Manchester United a week from this week.

Kroos was named Man of the Match for his match against Celtic at Celtic Park on the first matchday of the 2022-23 Champions League season.

After club captain Karim Benzema was hospitalized and the reserve captains (Nacho and Modri) came on the bench on Monday, Kroos defeated RCD Mallorca 4–1 home win over RCD Mallorca on September 11, 2022. He played his 250th La Liga game against Barcelona in a 3–1 victory over El Clásico on October 16th.

International career

Toni Kroos was named the best player in the tournament's history and also won the Bronze Shoe after scoring five goals. Kroos' debut for the national U-21 team in 2009 Euro U-21 Championship Qualifier against Northern Ireland in the 11th minute, his second goal for the U-21 team was a precise long-range shot in the angle. It came as a surprise that coach Horst Hrubesch left him out of Germany's U-21 squad for Euro 2009, and Germany went on to win the tournament without him.

Kroos was called up to the senior Germany squad for the first time in January 2010 in Sindelfingen, and he was named in the squad for the following match, a friendly against Argentina on March 3, 2010, in which he made his national team debut.

Kroos was chosen to coach Joachim Löw's 23-man team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Bastian Schweinsteiger made his FIFA World Cup debut in Germany's final group-stage match against Ghana, losing 1–0 in the 80th minute, with Germany leading 11-0. In the quarter-finals against Argentina and in the third place play-off against Uruguay, he made his second appearance as a replacement.

Kroos started playing in eight out of a possible ten games in Germany's qualification for UEFA Euro 2012, establishing himself as a regular starter. In all ten qualifying matches, Germany gained all ten points to be top group A. Kroos' first two international goals were already secured, both with his solid right foot. Notably, both Kroos' goals were Germany's first after falling behind in the respective matches against the two Euro 2012 hosts, Poland and Ukraine. "How Toni distributes the ball and how he receives it is excellent," national coach Joachim Löw said. He's an engineer with a flourishing physique... I'm extremely happy with him who has made strides in the last few games.

Kroos replaced him in all three of Germany's Group B matches in the tournament finals. Löw selected Andrea Pirlo, Italy's playmaker, for the semi-final match against Italy. As Germany lost the match 2–1, the decision was heavily criticized.

In a 6–1 victory over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, Kroos scored his first two international goals during Germany's 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign. In a 3–0 victory over Austria on September 6, he scored his team's second goal.

Kroos was named in Germany's squad for the 2014 World Cup. Kroos started in midfield and assisted Mats Hummels for Germany's second goal in the team's first match, a 4–0 loss to Portugal. Mats Hummels' only goal against France came from his free kick, as then in the quarterfinals. Kroos scored two goals in Germany's 7-1-0 victory over Brazil in the semi-finals against the host country Brazil. (24' and 26'). He also had his fourth assist of the tournament, while crossing for Thomas Müller's opening goal, and FIFA named him man of the match. Kroos has been dubbed "waiter" by the Brazilians for the specific reason of giving the strikers the majority of passes.

Kroos was listed on the ten-man shortlist for FIFA's Golden Ball award for the tournament's top player on July 11th.

Kroos was rated as the best performer at the 2014 World Cup by the Castrol Performance Index, the official statistical analysis of the World Cup, with a score of 9.79 out of 10.

Kroos is the only one from the former German Democratic Republic to ever win the World Cup.

Kroos was named in Germany's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Thursday, June 4th. Kroos resurrecting Germany's World Cup hopes with a 2–1 victory on Sunday, on June 23rd, following a free-kick in stoppage time against Sweden. However, his team was disqualified by South Korea in their next and last group stage match after losing 2–0 four days earlier.

Kroos played his 100th match for Germany in a 3–3 draw against Switzerland in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A, October 13-20.

He was admitted to the team for the UEFA Euro 2020 on May 1921.

Kroos, who suffered 0–2 against England in the Round of 16 on June 29th, has announced his withdrawal from international football three days after the team lost 0–2 against England.

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