Confident Kroos says Germany-Spain clash ‘won’t be my last game’

Retiring Germany veteran Toni Kroos said he was confident Friday’s blockbuster Euro 2024 quarter-final against Spain would not be the last game of his career.

Kroos announced in May he would hang up his boots after the Euros on home soil, meaning this week’s match in Stuttgart could be his final game. 

Real Madrid teammate Joselu said this week he wanted to “send Kroos into retirement” but the 34-year-old midfielder had his sights set on the July 14 Euros final in Berlin. 

“We will still be in the tournament for a while,” Kroos told reporters on Wednesday at Germany’s base camp in the Bavarian village of Herzogenaurach.

“I don’t think tomorrow will be my last game. I think we’ll see each other again — and I look forward to it,” he added.

The 2014 World Cup winner stepped down from the national team in 2021 but agreed to return in March.

“The idea of returning was tied to the goal of winning the Euros,” Kroos said.

“If I didn’t see the chance of achieving it with the team, I wouldn’t have done it.”

Kroos said he “did not fear” life after football, saying “this day will come for every player.” 

“Thank god I could make the decision myself, rather than anyone pushing me or making me feel that it might be better to do it earlier.

“I am aware that whatever comes along, or what hobbies I might try and take up, there will never be anything I am as good at as playing football.”

The six-time Champions League winner made his debut for Bayern Munich in 2007, the same year 16-year-old Spain winger Lamine Yamal was born. 

“That doesn’t make me feel much younger,” Kroos said, calling Yamal “the best or at least the most dangerous player” for club side Barcelona this season.