Opinion German team
Even France’s fans applaud after Kroos’ gala
As of: 05:22 a.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Toni Kroos – The returnee was immediately the boss on the pitch again
Source: Getty Images/Alexander Hassenstein
After such poor recent performances, the German national team is making an exclamation mark. The win in France shows how valuable Toni Kroos can be for the team. He sets the pace, he is an anchor. In the end, even the opposing wing rewards this.
It was the last minute of regular time when he left the pitch at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium on Saturday evening. Shouts of “Toni, Toni” echoed from the block of almost 500 fans from Germany who had traveled with us. That was almost to be expected given the very good game Toni Kroos played.
What was special about the moment of the change, however, was that Kroos received seconds of applause from the majority of the 50,000 French supporters. They appreciatively applauded an opponent’s player who ultimately beat their team 2-0 (1-0) – and who played a major role in this thanks to his performance and the role he played to the full.
In the fifth international match under the direction of Julian Nagelsmann, who had a record of one win, one draw and two defeats before the success in France, the German national football team made a Kroos-like statement. An exclamation mark, a signal.
Not everything had been discussed in advance about the terms in relation to the German team. About desire, about mood, about passion, about fight, about commitment and about fun – all in all about a team that recently had little hope of a good European Championship, which begins on June 14th, and whose coach the game with one The motto was: “We kick”. Not to forget the new supplier deal that had become public, overshadowing everything sporting and even bringing politics into the spotlight.
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But then, yes then, a German professional footballer puts on the national jersey again after a long time and within 89 minutes provides a completely different view of things. He had modestly let it be known in advance that he was not a savior. In Lyon, in conjunction with his teammates, he almost seemed like one. It was impressive to see how Kroos left his mark on the German team’s game in his 107th international match. His presence alone changed the whole static. Kroos was the leader, Kroos was the anchor – he gave support to the team, which had recently been so unstable. Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, these young, gifted offensive players, performed significantly better than they did recently in the selection of the German Football Association (DFB).
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In Kroos, the five-time Champions League winner, they knew they had a strong man behind them, a support that obviously not only they needed, many other players in the German team also radiated more security. It was fitting that Kroos was the one who set up Wirtz’s lightning goal, which scored after less than eight seconds – paving the way for victory in a game in which Kroos was also a calming force. Sometimes he pushed the pace, sometimes he slowed it down. He passed a lot, he anticipated – and sometimes intervened energetically, like around 15 minutes into the second half when he prevented the French from counterattacking with a monster tackle.
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On Tuesday, the German team will have the opportunity to follow up on Lyon’s good performance in another friendly against the Netherlands in Frankfurt. With Toni Kroos, whose return is very good for the German national team. And to close the circle at this point with regard to the fine sense of the French football supporters in the Lyon stadium: On Saturday evening they paid homage not only to Toni Kroos, but also to two German football legends, Franz Beckenbauer and Andreas Brehme, who recently have died. The silence during the minute’s silence before kick-off was impressive.
