Almost four months ago, on February 22, Toni Kroos announced on his social networks that he was returning to the German team, from which he had retired after the 2021 Euro Cup. He did so at a critical moment for the ‘Mannschaft’. Nagelsmann took the team … in September of last year and between him and Flick, his predecessor, they only managed to win three of the eleven games that Germany played in all of 2023. This year, now with Kroos, there are four victories in five games, and the game they did not win ( tied against Scotland in the friendly on June 3) Toni didn’t even play it.
«In recent months it has improved a lot with the return of Kroos. He makes sense of everything. Now the team is structured and has a game idea,” explains German legend Pierre Littbarski, champion (1990) and double runner-up in the world (1982 and 1986). «We have had many problems in the last year and a half and we did not have a good World Cup in Qatar either, eliminated in the first phase. But now the team is on the right path thanks to the return of Kroos. His return has been a huge impact. “He imposes his rules on the field and gives meaning to the rest of the team,” details Felix Magath, also world runner-up with Germany in 1982 and 1986, and European champion with Hamburg in 1983.
Stilieke, who is another of the myths of that splendid and triumphant Teutonic generation of the eighties, understands the passion that Kroos has raised, but considers the weight that has been placed on him excessive: «Of course, now we want Toni to beat us alone the Euro Cup, and that cannot be. “Germany will go through as first in the group, but I don’t see them as favorites for the tournament.” Neither does Magath, but at least he places them until the semi-finals and, then, he understands that everything would be possible: «I see the team plugged in and motivated. And he has arguments to fight from afar. Of course, one of them, and surely the most important, is Kroos. But he looks at what young people we have, like Wirtz and Musiala ». Littbarki does put her on the shortlist of candidates: «I think Germany is at the same level as France. Together with Spain, for me, they are the three favorites to win the tournament. Above England and Portugal.
So far, the start has been overwhelming. The most resounding victory in the opening match of a European Championship and with 101 good passes, out of 102 attempts, by Toni Kroos, who also had a direct impact on the first two goals, which put the game downhill. And the classification. It will be difficult for Germany not to go through as first in their group and, if they do, they could meet in a hypothetical quarter-final match with Spain in Stuttgart, as long as De la Fuente’s men are also first in their group and then advance to the round. of eighths.
wave of optimism
There is still a long way to go for that and, for now, Germany is living the happy present of a brilliant premiere. People are in love with his selection, with the return of Kroos and the media have jumped on the wave of optimism. The newspaper Bild, which after the Champions League final called Kroos ‘Title Toni’ and asked him to take Germany to the fourth European Championship in its history and not only win titles with Madrid, spoke this Saturday of a recital of ‘ 8’ and raised the euphoria of a country that in just a few months has gone from absolute skepticism about the role of the ‘Mannschaft’ in its Euro Cup, to seeing itself as champions.
If so, Kroos would have a good chance of qualifying for the Ballon d’Or, but that is something that in Germany does not interest anyone. In fact, he has never done it, as happens in Spain: «We want to win the Euro Cup. And Toni, too. The Ballon d’Or is an award that in our country does not take up a single second of our time. “This is football, a team sport,” says Magath. «We have four World Cups and three European Championships, which is the only title that Kroos is missing in his career. He copes very well with this pressure and knows that the demands placed on him are on par with how good he is. We all adore him and we are looking forward to him retiring, giving us the fourth European Championship,” says Littbarski.
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