Germany's Toni Kroos to retire after Euro 2024

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has announced that he will retire from professional football after representing Germany at the European Championship this summer.

Announcing the news on his weekly podcast, the 34-year-old said: "I've thought long and hard about it and I've come to the conclusion in the last few days that this season, this wonderful season, my tenth season with Real Madrid, will be my last with Real."

He added: "Those who have followed me over the last ten years will have heard me say now and again that I would only ever want to end my career at Real ... so if you put two and two together, that means it's all over this summer. Finished with Real. Finished with football."

He described the decision as "very, very difficult" and one which "doesn't run off the tongue easily."

Toni Kroos: one of Germany's best

Considered one of the best players of his generation and indeed one of the best midfielders of all time, Kroos has won almost all there is to win over the course of a glistening career including three Bundesliga and German Cup doubles and one Champions League with Bayern Munich. He also won four La Liga titles and four more Champions League trophies with Spanish giants Real Madrid.

"Toni Kroos is one of the greatest players in the history of Real Madrid and this club will always be his home," said Real president Florentino Perez in a club statement.

Kroos will have a chance to win a record sixth Champions League in his final game for Madrid: the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on June 1.

After that, he will round off his career with one more international tournament with Germany, having come out of international retirement to represent his country in this summer's European Championship on home soil.

Kroos and Germany: one more tournament

He has already made 108 appearances for Germany, scoring 17 goals - including two in two minutes in the famous 7-1 win over Brazil in the semifinal of the 2014 World Cup, which Germany went on to win.

That made Kroos, who was born in the northeastern German town of Greifswald in January 1990, the only player born in the former German Democratic Republic to win a World Cup.

In the build-up to the controversial 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Kroos was one of the few players to publicly voice concerns over the tournament, saying on his podcast: "It's wrong that the World Cup was awarded to Qatar."

"I always wanted to finish at the peak of my abilities, which isn't easy because you can easily miss it," he said, adding that he has two "massive" dreams left: "Winning [the Champions League] at Wembley and having a good tournament with Germany."

The European Championship is the only trophy he hasn't won.

mf/lo (dpa, SID)