After the Champions League semi-final first-leg last week, Oliver Kahn described him as “the heart of Real Madrid”. The winner of 76 Germany caps, Toni Kroos, will try to help Real Madrid reach a second consecutive Champions League final on Wednesday evening (20:45 CEST) when the Spanish giants take on their city rivals Atletico. Real won the first-leg 3-0 last week and, despite a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo stealing the headlines, 27-year-old Kroos put in a near flawless display.
123 touches of the ball, a 96% pass completion rate and a 86% win rate in duels were just some of Kroos’ impressive stats from the first-leg. Former Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn described Kroos as “the heart of Real Madrid” after the match, but the current Germany international is remaining modest and maintained, albeit with a wry smile, that that figure still left room for improvement.
Kroos' ex-trainer Ehrke: “He was always a classy guy”
His former support trainer Eckard Ehrke has fond memories of Kroos: “He was always a down-to-earth, classy guy and I’m still impressed with how down-to-earth and calm he is in his interviews even now.”
Ehrke was the DFB support trainer from 2000 to 2002 and worked with Toni in Greifswald. He became aware of his talent with the football very quickly: “Toni could juggle the ball 5-10 times right from the start without any trouble.” Ehrke was always keen to allow the young talents to spend time on the ball, “Passing, ball control, giving and receiving were always my main objectives,” revealed the 78-year-old. This training was clearly evident in the first-leg against Atletico as Kroos gave a footballing masterclass in a game in which every seventh pass that Real played landed at the feet of the German.
“A distinct, peripheral vision”
“He speeds the game up, slows it down, plays passes into dangerous areas, is always available and makes very few mistakes with his passing.” This was Oliver Kahn’s description of Kroos after his performance against Atletico last week. Kroos, in fact, miss-placed two passes in the whole match. “Toni had a distinct, peripheral vision,“ remembers Ehrke.
Eckard’s wife was Kroos’ P.E. teacher at school and told Ehrke about Toni’s great temperament. “He never forgot about the weaker players, for example, in dodgeball and he always involved them and played with them. In terms of personality he’s a really great guy.”
In the Spanish media, Kroos has been given the nickname ‘The Waiter’ because of the way receives and gives the ball. His stats are incredible, but, according to Kroos, there is still room for improvement. “That was one of his character traits; that he always wanted to improve,” said Ehrke. “He didn’t want to mess around, rather always wanted to learn new things.”
Dream of playing for Bayern München
One of Toni Kroos’ earliest ambitions as a young boy was to play for a big club. Eckard Ehrke remembers exactly what Toni wanted. “I just want to play for Bayern München, he would always say. That was his sole objective,” he revealed. However he first started at Hansa Rostock where he remained until U17s level before he then made the move to the record German champions.
“You also have to give great credit to Toni’s parents that they always really encouraged him,” praised Ehrke. Kruse went on to win the DFB Pokal three times with Bayern München as well as three league titles and the Champions League in the 2012/2013 season. He moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2014 and he has already made 142 appearances for Los Blancos, establishing himself as a firm starter in midfield. He then lifted the Champions League title once again in 2015/16 with Madrid.
The Germany international always demonstrated a close affinity with his current club. He is now well on course to reach the final of Europe’s elite competition once again to have the chance to lift the trophy for a third time. Yet the world champion will also know that there is still a second leg to play with city rivals Atletico. “Winning 3-0 was a tremendous result but we are only halfway there,” he said. “We’ve had a few bad experiences at Atletico before.”
After the Champions League semi-final first-leg last week, Oliver Kahn described him as “the heart of Real Madrid”. The winner of 76 Germany caps, Toni Kroos, will try to help Real Madrid reach a second consecutive Champions League final on Wednesday evening (20:45 CEST) when the Spanish giants take on their city rivals Atletico. Real won the first-leg 3-0 last week and, despite a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo stealing the headlines, 27-year-old Kroos put in a near flawless display.
123 touches of the ball, a 96% pass completion rate and a 86% win rate in duels were just some of Kroos’ impressive stats from the first-leg. Former Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn described Kroos as “the heart of Real Madrid” after the match, but the current Germany international is remaining modest and maintained, albeit with a wry smile, that that figure still left room for improvement.
Kroos' ex-trainer Ehrke: “He was always a classy guy”
His former support trainer Eckard Ehrke has fond memories of Kroos: “He was always a down-to-earth, classy guy and I’m still impressed with how down-to-earth and calm he is in his interviews even now.”
Ehrke was the DFB support trainer from 2000 to 2002 and worked with Toni in Greifswald. He became aware of his talent with the football very quickly: “Toni could juggle the ball 5-10 times right from the start without any trouble.” Ehrke was always keen to allow the young talents to spend time on the ball, “Passing, ball control, giving and receiving were always my main objectives,” revealed the 78-year-old. This training was clearly evident in the first-leg against Atletico as Kroos gave a footballing masterclass in a game in which every seventh pass that Real played landed at the feet of the German.
“A distinct, peripheral vision”
“He speeds the game up, slows it down, plays passes into dangerous areas, is always available and makes very few mistakes with his passing.” This was Oliver Kahn’s description of Kroos after his performance against Atletico last week. Kroos, in fact, miss-placed two passes in the whole match. “Toni had a distinct, peripheral vision,“ remembers Ehrke.
Eckard’s wife was Kroos’ P.E. teacher at school and told Ehrke about Toni’s great temperament. “He never forgot about the weaker players, for example, in dodgeball and he always involved them and played with them. In terms of personality he’s a really great guy.”
In the Spanish media, Kroos has been given the nickname ‘The Waiter’ because of the way receives and gives the ball. His stats are incredible, but, according to Kroos, there is still room for improvement. “That was one of his character traits; that he always wanted to improve,” said Ehrke. “He didn’t want to mess around, rather always wanted to learn new things.”
Dream of playing for Bayern München
One of Toni Kroos’ earliest ambitions as a young boy was to play for a big club. Eckard Ehrke remembers exactly what Toni wanted. “I just want to play for Bayern München, he would always say. That was his sole objective,” he revealed. However he first started at Hansa Rostock where he remained until U17s level before he then made the move to the record German champions.
“You also have to give great credit to Toni’s parents that they always really encouraged him,” praised Ehrke. Kruse went on to win the DFB Pokal three times with Bayern München as well as three league titles and the Champions League in the 2012/2013 season. He moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2014 and he has already made 142 appearances for Los Blancos, establishing himself as a firm starter in midfield. He then lifted the Champions League title once again in 2015/16 with Madrid.
The Germany international always demonstrated a close affinity with his current club. He is now well on course to reach the final of Europe’s elite competition once again to have the chance to lift the trophy for a third time. Yet the world champion will also know that there is still a second leg to play with city rivals Atletico. “Winning 3-0 was a tremendous result but we are only halfway there,” he said. “We’ve had a few bad experiences at Atletico before.”
