visiting toni kroos in his holy domicile! it’s a little cramped here… yeah, you’re right. how often do you have press agenst/ journalists here? at home? you’re the first and last! i’m sure i am once we’re done. lets start with the most important question have you already betted on the nba matches? i’ve heard you have ongoing bets with felix.
every day, every day! we’re betting every day, we’re always in touch. i must admit, this month, he’s leading again, i’m behind. as usual? no. but often. he told me, he’s leading 4-1, counting months. yeah, ... that’s probably true. he doesn’t always win, but often.
now that the play-offs have started i’m hoping to catch up a bit. and at the end of the month the loser has to make the winner a present, is that correct? correct. what can you tell us about that? the loser has to think of a surprise for the winner… so far that has been me most of the time. without being indiscreet - what would you give your brother? well, the last time… he (felix) and his girlfriend recently got a dog, so naturally he got a feeding bowl
…with the dog’s name on it. i chose the name, so that wasn’t an issue anymore. he also got a (dallas mavericks) fan kit with a hat and everything… … so far i’ve always been pretty creative, but i hope we’re switching the roles sometime. where does the excitement for basket ball come from? your brother and you both are so fascinated - where is that coming from? well, i think the sport is incredibly intriguing. i’ve always cared about different sports, more than football… … of course my interest sparked most with dirk (nowitzki) and the mavericks… i remember the season when they lost the final, then a few years later they won it.
since then, i’ve been following nba very intensely. well, as intensely as possible - it’s not that easy with the different time zones, but i have to admit that i’m a very, very enthusiastic fan. how do you do that? do you have the league pass and watch the matches the following day? one can’t watch the matches live every night from 3 to 6 am. one doesn’t have to do that, but one can. you actually do that, that actually happens?
yes, it does happen. at this point of the season i’m really… well, during the season it’s fine, but currently with the play-offs being on - when i’m aware there’s a match from 3 to 6 am, i’m not able to fall asleep anyway. when the mavs have an important match i get really, really nervous. so it’s better for me to stay up and watch the match and sleep afterwards instead of watching it the next day. i wouldn’t be able to do that anyway - watching the match when i already know the result. or not checking the result at all is unthinkable. i just have to witness it live.
of course, i don’t always do that. it’s not like i’m watching basketball from 3 to 6 am the night before a champions league match, but when my schedule allows it, i have to watch it live. even during the night. has there ever been any direct contact between you and dirk nowitzki, considering you’re such a big fan? not directly, no. we’ve talked a bit through twitter. i guess it would be hard, too, with his busy schedule. and when he’s off during the summer, we have things like world cups or european cups. maybe someday we’ll manage to do that…
it’s not like that is my main focus, though, i don’t need that. i just think it’s fascinating to watch him play. also, as a person - he’s an absolute role model, so i would be happy to meet him someday. is he a role model for many football players? i think it’s impressive how he treats his fans - - no negative attitude at all. is he a role model,
considering you also have quite the hype at the club? yes, absolutely. one has to differentiate between … … well, i think it’s important to include the fans, he does that perfectly, even when he’s probably not eager to do that every day. the fans have to understand that - after a match you’ve lost, you don’t have the energy to give a thousand autographs. so, yeah - it’s important to include the fans and he does a really good job, many of us should take a leaf out of his book. how do you deal with media and press?
do you think of the interactions with journalists as an annoying duty or do you think it’s fun? a bit of both. some things, such as press conferences where you are forced to talk about the matches… … well, but there’s also things i enjoy. sometimes you really get to know the people and journalists, so you have fun during the conversations with them. dates you’re looking forward to, for example… … can i say it? for example today. i’m really glad to hear that!
once again - - it’s also really special for us to be here at your house today. well, i have looked into you before letting you into my home, so it’s alright. so, let’s get to the touchy topics… … there are people, who- don’t you have any notes with you, by the way, to read the questions? or are you doing that by heart? no, i don’t. we’re doing it this way. but thank you for asking.
so many people have said about you, when i told them about the interview: isn’t he kind of an apathetic person? no offense, but they’re saying you’re a bit boring and dry, that you don’t even know how to open your mouth. where do you think that’s coming from? that’s hard to say. perhaps some people judge me based on my way of playing football. i’m not exactly the most spectacular player, but rather controlled. i guess it’s not that exciting to watch me play without the spectacular scenes in the box, my play looks rather simple. but for it to look simple -
that’s the hardest part and many people don’t realise that, so i’m not the centre of attention most of the time. but why are they passing that onto their judgement of you as a person? maybe because there aren’t any huge headlines about my private life. i prefer being at home - when i’m with my family, i feel most comfortable. and it’s not that important to me what others think about me anyway. the people who know me don’t misjudge and are aware that i definitely know how to open my mouth. how well does your brother felix know you? i’d say he knows me the best,
aside from my girlfriend, obviously. i already got into trouble with your brother when i asked him this, how it is to be outshined by the older brother - so i’m asking you instead, what’s it like to be in felix kroos’ shadow? it’s great. of course i’m aware of all the talk about me outshining him, but when i see how he’s developed these past two years, i’m raising my hat to him. i think his career is much more outstanding as he had to work a lot more for it.
it’s always been like that, and even today people are saying “look at your little brother in bremenâ€, but that little brother is a proffesional football player in the bundesliga at werder bremen, plays very often and built his own career. i’m really impressed by that. everybody who knows us, understands that we would never begrudge eachother. our relationship is very good. do you talk a lot about your performances on the pitch
and your decisions, for example transfer decisions? of course i’ll ask him for his opinion, especially last summer concerning the important transfer. our main topic isn’t football, though - it’s probably basketball. it was a really important decision, so i included him. he wanted me to go to manchester, he’s a manchester fan - so i had to let him down.â€
and he hasn’t been here at your home in madrid once? unfortunately not. i’ve been here for 10 months now - - it’s not like we never see eachother, when i’m in germany we do see eachother! but he hasn’t been here, yet. don’t know why, maybe he just doesn’t want to come… … i’m kidding. he does want to come. i know that.
he’d be the first to come here, of course. but his schedule with werder bremen is really tight and... ...he rarely gets two or three days in a row off, so he can’t just simply catch a flight and visit. that’s the disadvantage - - other families have the weekends where they can see eachother, but for us that’s really hard. well, we do have the advantage that we get to see eachother more often when we’re say mid thirty. that’s right, your active working life is much shorter.
so it’s really an oasis where you live here. you’ve already said that family is important to you - do you enjoy the calm atmosphere here, your neighbour being cristiano ronaldo, do you enjoy the privacy? yes, definitely. we’ve got enough hype going on at the club, anyway. the fans here are very enthusiastic, that’s different compared to the german fans.
when you’re out in madrid and somebody recognises you, ou can just as well turn around and go back home again. he fans here handle distances very differently, for them it’s “see and taking their chanceâ€. it’s madness, but positive madness. the fans here are so enthusiastic, they would die for real madrid. when it’s up to them and they are deciding how to spent their money in the evenings, they would pay to go to the stadium instead of buying a warm dinner.
so yeah, it’s great to live withdrawn, but i still think it’s important to involve the fans. i’ve heard it also happens, that when you go out for dinner here, he police approaches you, getting the wrong impressions. you have to tell us about that story. i’ve heard thought you stole your own car? i stole my own car, for sure. so, we were out with some friends for dinner and were about to leave.
our friends smoke on a regular basis, just like you - am i allowed to say that you smoke? well, i heard that i heard that you smoke a cigarette every now and then, whenever you’re nervous - before football matches. and previous to interviews like this. so, we were out for dinner. our friends had another cigarette and we stood in front of my car, the doors were open - i don’t know, maybe it looked a little suspicious.
so the cops pulled over to inspect. they eased up pretty quickly after seeing my license, though. they didn’t recognise you beforehand? it was dark already, so… well, they seemed to feel pretty uncomfortable after seeing it. they got into the car hastily and drove away - so igot to keep my car and was allowed to go home. speaking of me smoking every once in a while are you one of those ideal footballers
who watch their diet rigorously, make sure they regenerate enough. i mean, that is normal for a professional, but i’ve heard that it’s really intense with you. nope. wrong information? well, look at me watching nba every night from 2 - 5, that’s not really what you call a role model! i do make sure that my body is okay with this rhythm - especially this season was extreme with the world cup, then a short time off and then playing every match at real madrid from the beginning on.
that wouldn’t be possible, if you live life like… …like me! it is important to pay attention to certain things. i would’t claim to be the professional who has the best diet, that would be a lie - i do enjoy my life, i admit that. but when it comes to matches, it’s important to live healthily
even get enough sleep every now and then to be fit, otherwise it wouldn’t be possible. still, i wouldn’t say i’m a role model and that they should take a leaf out of my book - they better not do that! why not? - considering your sleeping habits? yes, i do admit it - i do stay up the whole night to watch basketball sometimes.
but i’ve already said, i wouldn’t be able to sleep otherwise, anyway, so there’s that. but i do prepare for our matches a lot and am very focused. let’s talk about your neighbour, whom many call out to be the perfect role model. i mean, i don’t want to talk too much about cristiano ronaldo now, i’m sure you get that asked a lot. but you’re so close to him -
is he really such a madman who’s always first at training, always the last to leave and incredibly focused? he is, yeah. you really have to say that, now if he only arranged his parties a little better , that your be even better. but honestly, he is trying to improve every day, he wants to win every single training match, is always keen on scoring goals
- it wouldn’t be possible any other way, he wouldn’t achieve the quotes. aside from his quality - - without that kind of attitude that he has… … his talent is all well and good, but without the will to improve he wouldn’t be where he is. you just mentioned the timing of his party - you were talking about his birthday party, i assume. you weren’t there, is that correct? because you thought the timing wasn’t right.
was he upset about you not coming? no! of course not. he invited me two days before the party and even then i said listen, you are aware that we have an important match against atletico beforehand, that’s not going to be an easy win. maybe you should’ve chosen the date after a home match against getafe. on that day we sure enough did lose 0-4 - i’m not saying he should’ve cancelled the party,
that would’ve been impossible to cancel on the 300 invited guests two hours prior. he invited lots of kids, too, so he couldn’t have not showed up. but i just decided for myself that i wouldn’t go because at that moment it didn’t feel right for me. of course, thinking a few steps ahead... you would’ve expected that the media would find out about it. so i told him, i wouldn’t come come after losing 0-4 against the city rival.
i didn’t think it was dramatic that the party took place, though. so we’ve established that you’re a dirk nowitzki fan, but you are a tennis maniac as well, i take it from your twitter account. you should be surprised that i’m even talking to you right now - roger is currently playing in monaco. yeah, right. monte carlo right now, right? yes. federer is somebody who also fascinates you.
where’s the buzz for tennis as well coming from, or are you just a sport obsessed in general? yeah, tennis and basketball are behind football my favourite sports. sometimes that’s connected with the people who fascinate you, and i would definitely name roger, as he really is someone who impresses me with his personality. he’s so down to earth i mean he did win one or two tournaments already. i think he’s the best of all time, at least the best i’ve ever seen. i don’t think it gets any better than that anymore.
but to keep playing at his standard with 33 years! and still going to every tournament, eager to win and making everybody realise that they are eager - that’s absolutely impressive. and the way he interprets tennis with such a elegance… he does play beautifully, doesn’t he? yes, beautiful! compared to rafael nadal, it’s just more beautiful. it is indeed.
i like playing beautiful football, so naturally i enjoy watching beautiful tennis. he looks incredible playing, with such delight and desire even after everything he’s achieved - i have to admit, really good! one day. same time. roger federer, wimbledon finale. dirk nowitzki repeating the nba finale, match 7
against atlanta. i got tickets for both and invite you to come with me - where would we go? it’s best that we split up. i guess, because i’ve already seen the wimbledon finale live - i sat two seats behind prince william i’d pick the nba finale. but only because i’ve already seen wimbledon live
and roger won and everything was great. are you following women’s tennis as well or only the men? i think it’s incredible how the women… it’s definitely worth watching, i have to admit. the level between men and women sports isn’t that far apart unlike in some other sports. the women play beautiful matches, especially from a german point of few - better than the men.
what’s missing is that our women haven’t won any big tournaments, yet they’re playing as a team at the fed-cup in russia. yes, i’ve seen that thingy where you were as well. you mean the fed cup finale in prague, right? the last punch was missing we do have 4,5 women who play fantastic tennis - - now we only need to win something big, that’s yet to come. we’ll record this and show it to them… as motivation?
as motivation, really good! i really enjoy watching it, i have to admit, i’m still hoping for that one big moment. so, how do you motivate yourself... ...no, wait, first an important question. how did you arrive here as world cup winners? did you have to buy everyone drinks - how did the spaniards react, having won the cup four years and now you?
they had enough reason to focus on themselves after not making it through the group stage, i guess. and i didn’t have to worry about the remarks i might’ve expected about that 4-0 against bayern munich, so that was that. it was easy for me to come here, pretty harmless. but they’ve always respected the germans and how german football’s developed. it made my start here a lot easier and...
that spaniards had already been training for two weeks having a shorter tournament than us. it was no disadvantage to come here as world cup winner. can you really feel that? i don’t mean coming from fans and journalists, but really within the team. do you think they were more respectful, keeping in mind “wow, the boy played an outstanding world cup� well, i think i already had the advantage of coming from a big club.
bayern munich is on the same level as real madrid so everyone knew i was someone who’s able to at least play a bit of football. they did know that. maybe subconciously… … when you walk into the locker room as a world cup winner, you do feel a certain calmness and self-confidence. and the team mates know the club didn’t buy a complete fool. how do you handle success? are you celebrating a lot
or do you get over it quickly? you have to find a way to do both. on one hand, celebrating is over quickly because we have to look ahead. after a short time off you’re going to real madrid to face new challenges. but you have to celebrate, especially a world cup title! and that’s what i did, during my time off. you really have to do that i can’t say that i’ll celebrate the fact that i’ve won the world cup in ten years when my career is over,
just because i have more time to do so, then. it was a beautiful moment, but a moment that sadly passes too, so you have to enjoy it and live in the moment. that’s what i did. and you deserved to do so. are you still in touch with former team mates from home? which home are you talking about? let’s go north and say rostock,
are there any contacts left? not to former team mates, no. my parents live there. my father is still coaching the first youth team, unfortunately the club [hansa rostock] didn’t have a great development. going further in my career - i’m still in touch with people from my time in leverkusen, where i felt really welcome. even now,
when i’m flying to germany from madrid - we’re always going to cologne instead of munich, because we always felt more welcome, more at home there. do you think that’s a matter of mentality of the people in cologne? perhaps. funnily, we have more friends and contacts in cologne from just one year than in my 5,6 years in munich. i’m not saying anything against munich, but that’s how it is.
so that’s why we thought about it when we moved to madrid - what’s our biggest connection to germany? it was really important for my girlfriend and that was her condition - if we move to madrid, she wants to have a house in cologne and i fulfilled her wish. that’s interesting - with only one year at leverkusen, but six at bayern.
how would you explain that? that’s difficult. i guess i was put into a really young team at leverkusen, so naturally the life partners of my team mates were also young, so it was easier for my girlfriend to make friends. unlike in munich, where the girls are more - in quotation marks - the trendy in-crowd type. my girlfriend isn’t,
she’s more grounded, down to earth. so it just fit with the other young players and friendship was easier to develop but i felt very comfortable at both clubs. i still have contacts to leverkusen today, so i didn’t have to think a lot about buying the house in cologne that was requested. let’s talk about rostock again. hansa did not have an easy time recently - are you still following what’s going on at the club?
how they evolve, especially concerning economical aspects? yes, i’m following what happens, of course. they are a club which - which is rare for a city like rostock with so few possibilities was in the bundesliga for 10 years, then they were relegated to the second league and then everything went downhill. there were a lot of changes, i think they had 3 different managing board
and 2 different coaches each year, it’s still like that today. it doesn’t get better like that, with the few possibilities that you have anyway. they built a stadium for the bundesliga which is incredibly expensive and now they are playing in the third league in that stadium, that just doesn’t go together. then you have managing persons who don’t know all that much about managing on top of that.
i am aware of what happens, my father tells me a bit about it, as he is still very involved at the club. and did he not say ‘hey, toni, why don’t you help out’? what am i supposed to do? transfer and play at rostock? no, i mean - how should i help,
what should i do? being honest, if you look at it realisticly - back then when i transferred from rostock to bayern the club got over a million for a 16 year old boy and a friendly from bayern to fill their stadium. for my transfer from munich to madrid - i don’t want to lie -
they received another 200 thousand euros. i can’t possible just keep transferring so they get money. sure, i am wondering from afar, but i’m not involved at the club anymore, not really informed, just a bit interested. looking at the sport side, they did get their shit together at least for a while it looked as if they would relegate to the fourth league,
but now they managed to get a few points. it’s hard to understand what’s going on from afar - i do wonder where all the money goes. i did have a good time there, i was there for four years and was able to grow well, but still - it is a bit weird with everyone asking ‘why doesn’t he help the club, the club did so much for him’.
that’s true, i did feel comfortable - but in the four years that i was there, three and a half of them i was trained by my own father and it was him who did a lot for me. but he would’ve done that on any other pitch. i still feel a little connected, but not so much that i feel responsible for ‘saving’ the club, there’s just not that big of a connection between us. that’s great that you can get that off your chest.
yes, it is actually good. rostock, leverkusen, bayern, real madrid… and then? …the end. then, the end! well…
i didn’t want to use this overused set phrase in a nice interview like this. just say it in another way. i’ll just say it in another way. or just tell us the set phrase first and think about what you’re going to say next while you do that. alright, that’s how we’ll do it. so… in football, you never know how long you will stay somewhere. especially at clubs like bayern munich, real madrid,
it often happens very quickly. but i signed a contract here for six years i didn’t do that just for fun - i’ve thought about it for a long time. when my contract ends, i’ll be 30. i’m now 25, so that sounds really long-term, but my plan is to stay here for a long time. of course i can’t promise that now,
there’s always a lot that can happen, that’s just how it is. i’ve signed for 6 years, and i definitely plan on staying here. the only reason i would consider leaving in the future - and that’s why i transferred from bayern to madrid - is because i want to try something else. luckily, it’s the same level considering the sportive standards, be it madrid, bayern or bacelona,
it’s the same level but i just wanted to try something else. and if that would happen again in the future it would be about getting to know anohter country. but right now that is definitely not the case and i knowingly signed a long-term contract. how is a decision like that made? i suppose the offer from bayern wasn’t the worst so, with advisor,
girlfriend, family, what’s going on at times like that? of course i can only speak for myself, and i’ve had it relatively easy. i’m lucky to have a girlfriend who said ‘you do your thing i support you and will go everywhere with you’, so that made it really easy. it was the same with my advisor, pretty much.
but the price does play an important role. did he not say ‘consider this and consider that’…? yeah, well, but it is also well known that as an advisor you get a lot of money from clubs like bayern in case of a contract extension. of course, it is the adviser’s job to show me what options i have, but in the end it’s still my decision. sure, he can give me advice,
but it was my decision. we had the same strategy. we told bayern our demands right from the beginning of negotiation talks and we did not back away. that was... the winter before the world cup. of course, our requests were self-confident, like i am too - but with a healthy self-assessment.
i was a starter in the team, the coach always let me play, so our requests were justified. at the end of the day, we couldn’t come to an agreement so then i had different options where to go and real madrid was overall the best choice in my eyes. thank god, it all went really quickly after that.
it was the last chance for bayern to earn something by selling me, so i could come here right after the world cup. was it a question of appreciation, too? maybe you thought you weren’t valued enough at bayern? that depends on who you’re talking about. i was always valued by the coach and matthias sammer as well.
but those two alone… it’s a decision from the whole club. i was happy with my status as a player, ... but appreciation also becomes obvious in an offer, perhaps that didn’t satisfy me enough. i got along well with the coach, we had the same perception of the way i play football, but the recognition from the coach alone isn’t enough - - today you never know if a coach is permanent
or gone after a short while. it was good to know but in the end i wanted the transfer. a lot has happened in the bundesliga, there were a lot of changes in the managing parts of the clubs. let’s talk about hsv the critics say they had more coaches this season than they got points. now they’ve got a new coach again, bruno labbadia, for the end of the season i know that it’s difficult from afar,
but does a change for the last few match days even make sense? does that make sense ? difficult to say. many will say later ‘oh, they shouldn’t have done it’ or ‘it was the right thing to do’ but they just got a new coach 2 match days earlier and that didn’t work out either.
i 've read... that... peter herrmann has gone after two matchdays . from afar and you only read it seems really chaotic what’s going on at hamburg, they got early warnings what can happen. i think they were always down here in recent years .
a lot has to happen, if they don’t want to relegate. we’ll see if it was the right decision. a mischievous grin! and then jã¼rgen klopp asking the club to end his contract. many said they saw it coming considering the horrible season they had. what about you - do you think he should’ve suffered through it and stay
- good, the club would have it so - or could tell the coach " i want to restart". i know from afar itâ´s difficult to say. were you surprised that he left? i was surprised, as it wasn’t predictable. he always seemed like a fighter. he still is! if what he said was true and he isn’t 100% sure anymore that he’s the right one for the job -
admitting it also shows strength. i think the club would’ve liked him to stay, but he was there for a while now and achieved everything achievable with borussia dortmund, so i think it’s really okay for him to stop now. what do you think about him as a person? ou having been trained by men like guardiola and ancelotti, klopp is definitely a different type.
can you relate to that? what does relate mean? i’m not one to jump around at the side line like he is. i can’t judge what effect he has on a team, but i gotta admit i’d prefer watching one of his press conferences to coaches who just say what they’re supposed to say. you either like the guy or you don’t,
but i like that there’s often something funny with him around, he has a lot of different facets. let’s slowly get to the end of this interview. i saw a huge barbecue outside. unfortunately, the wheather today isn’t that good - you could’ve shown us what you can do with a barbecue. so how do you do it? how is it possible for you to be so good in the bundesliga betting competition? how do you do it, who is betting for you?
it can’t be you! there’s not much to say - i’m betting myself. i admit, i do have a talent for it. i’m pretty sure i wouldn’t get as far as this year another time, though. i wouldn’t speak of luck though - my bets are pretty terrific. at the end of june we’ll do a bbq at my house i know you’re on holiday then.
i always get asked ‘what will he do, if he really is in the top 20, will he really come?’ - what can i expect? we have two options. if we find a suitable date, i’ll be there, that’s for sure - - i want to celebrate my success, after all! that’s for sure, i want you to make a bratwurst for me
i can do a really amaing thã¼ringer bratwurst. that’s why i would come! well, you have to help out, then. you can’t just come and eat. what do you mean, help out? being a waiter. what - no, the top 20 will be there and be served by you! right, so i’ll do it, then. that’s how i expect it to be -
- i mean, that’s the price! if you’re only at 3000 you have to do it yourself. i’ll do that. well, there are still a few match days left. i think i’m leading 10 points on the 21st place, that’s good, but i can’t be certain, yet. but if we find a suitable date, i will take a flight to germany, don’t worry. okay, we’ll keep in touch.
you really have to be a sport enthusiast - nba, tennis and still time for the betting.. i do it the way you told us to ‘just do the opposite of what i do’ - that’s what i’m doing , so that’s why i’m currently on place 9. right, and when you do it like me you end up at 3000… so, sport is more to you than just a job, right?
is it really such a big part of your life? yeah. the most important point in life for me is 100% my family, i would even… well, it is quite convenient that nba is on during the night, so that doesn’t collide, because my family is sleeping. yeah, a huge part of my life is sports. i follow what i’m interested in. are you also watching darts?
i also watch darts. yeah, i actually watch darts, too. between christmas and new year’s eve. exactly. especially the world cup, it gets a bit boring after that, i only watch the first few match days until the world cup starts again. i know that my crazy brother
at home just bought his own dartboard and he uses it everday, but for me it’s only sometimes during the year. basketball and tennis are much more continuous. of course i’m not as crazy as you are and follow every sport there is, but football, basketball and tennis are my sports. concluding - how is your bbq skill?
is what you do eatable? i suppose it is. unfortunately we can’t test it today, as the wheather is bad, but if you want me to and if you ask really nicely, i might barbecue something for you at your house with the top 20. i don’t know how long we’ve talked now.
guys, are we already at 40, 45 minutes? … so, toni, thank you, it was fun! i hope it wasn’t too much. everything alright. i would say something if it wasn’t. is there something you want to mention? is there?
no, i don’t think so. it was an interesting interview, not like the usual ones… but i wouldn’t have expected a normal interview with you anyway. that's also clear . it was fun. thank you! gladly ! great!
