Toni Kroos Finally Returns To The German National Team And Appears At Euro 2024

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos returns to the German national team (X/@realmadrid).

JAKARTA - Real Madrid veteran midfielder Toni Kroos canceled his retirement and returned to play for the German national team. He will appear at Euro 2024 which will be held in his own country.

Kroos was a puzzle in the German national team. Especially after coach Julian Nagelsmann expressed his desire to be willing to return to the national team.

Even though he is 34 years old, Kroos is still playing at the highest level. He is still a pillar of Madrid's strength. This is what prompted Nagelsmann to ask Kroos to rejoin.

Nagelsman's hopes seem to have come true. Kroos declared his return to defend Die Mannschaft after retiring from international matches three years ago.

Kroos, who led Germany to win the 2014 World Cup, announced his retirement from the national team after a 0-2 loss to England in the last 16 of Euro 2020 at Wembley.

Since making his debut in Germany, Kroos has played 106 times. At club level, Kroos achieved success with Bayern Munich and Madrid.

In fact, he won the Champions League four times with Los Merengues. Then, Kroos was recorded as lifting the Lebar Ear trophy at Bayern.

Kroos himself announced his return to the German national team via social media.

"Guys, (decision) is fast and without hesitation. Starting March 2024 I will play again for Germany," said Kroos.

"Why? Because the German national team coach asked me. In addition, I really want (to return to the German national team) because I believe the team can still achieve the target at the Euros," he said.

Germany will host Euro 2024 which will start from June 14 to July 14, 2024. Germany will host matches in 10 cities and Berlin will become the venue for the final.

However, Germany's preparation as the host is far from expectations. Nagelsmann's team did not play the qualifying round. The team also underwent many trials as part of the preparation maturation.

Nagelsmann has handled the German national team since September 2023. Unfortunately, their achievements were very bad because they only won twice in the last six matches.

The previous two matches were defeated against Turkey and Austria. Furthermore, Germany conducted a trial against France and the Netherlands in March 2024.

Meanwhile, Germany itself reaped bad results in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. This four-time world champion was eliminated in the group stage.