Toni Kroos

Toni Kroos (born 4 January 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the German national team. Kroos plays mainly as a central midfielder, but is also used as a defensive midfielder or deep-lying play-maker. He is known for his vision, creativity, passing, and set-piece ability, and is widely considered to be one of the best midfielders in the world.

Born in the small German city of Greifswald, Kroos began his senior club career playing for Bayern Munich, where he made his debut at age 17 in 2007. He was sparingly used, and quickly opted for an 18-month loan spell at fellow Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, where he became a key contributor, and returned to his parent club with an increased profile in 2010. Kroos then became indispensable for the Bavarian club, and was critical to several successes, including two consecutive league titles, a UEFA Champions League title, and two DFB-Pokal titles. He was also voted into the league team of the season three times, before moving to Spain to join La Liga side Real Madrid in 2014, for a fee of EUR25 million.

In Madrid, Kroos became a vital part of the team under head coaches Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, and he helped Real win three consecutive Champions League titles from 2015-16 to 2017-18, each time being selected in the squad of the season. He also contributed heavily as the club captured a La Liga title in 2016-17, when he was also chosen for the team of the season. Kroos was also voted into both the FIFPro World XI and UEFA Team of the Year in 2016 and 2017, and has won further championships, including five FIFA Club World Cup titles. In 2018, Kroos was named German Footballer of the Year by a selection of journalists and the publication kicker.

After a successful youth international career, in which he won the Golden Player award and finished as top goalscorer in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in 2006, and won the Golden Ball award for best player at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2007, Kroos made his senior debut for Germany in 2010. He scored his first international goal in 2011 in a friendly match against Poland, and has since been key to the national team, appearing in every major tournament Germany has qualified for, beginning with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In 2014, Kroos led his country to victory in that year's World Cup, where he was the top assist provider and was selected to the All-Star team and Dream Team. He was also named German Player of the Year. At UEFA Euro 2016, Kroos was voted to the Team of the Tournament.