BY Jonathan Ledger
Toni Kroos, a Real Madrid midfielder and Germany international, will retire from football after the 2024 European Championship.
The 35-year-old announced his imminent exit from competitive football in a post on Instagram on Tuesday.
The former Bayern Munich playmaker, who joined Real Madrid in 2014 to seek a new challenge, extolled the Spanish La Liga champions’ impact on his personal and professional career since joining a decade ago.
The German will play his last home game for the Spanish club against Real Betis on Saturday before the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund at the Wembley Stadium in London on June 1.
“July 17, 2014, the day of my presentation at Real Madrid, the day that changed my life,” Kroos wrote.
“My life as a footballer, but above all as a person. It was the beginning of a new life in the biggest club in the world. Today, after 10 years, at the end of the season, this life comes to an end.
“I will never forget this exciting and successful decade! At the same time, this decision means that my career as an active footballer will end this summer after the Euro. As I have always said, Real Madrid is and will be my last club.
Kroos won five UEFA Champions League titles, four of them during his 10 years with Real Madrid. He also won the 2014 FIFA World Cup with Germany before retiring from international football following Euro 2020.
However, he returned to play for his country earlier this year after prominent members of the German FA lengthyly persuaded him to do so.
Kroos started his youth career in 1997 and broke into the Bayern Munich senior team ten years later. In a storied career that spanned 27 years, he won 32 major trophies and claimed over 30 individual honours.
He was the captain of the Germany U-17 side that lost to Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets in the semi-final of the 2007 U-17 World Cup in Korea.
The 2024 European Championship is billed to kick off on June 14 in Germany.
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