Toni Kroos made his return for Germany on Saturday. (Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images)
As far as returns go, it couldn’t have gone much better for Toni Kroos.
The midfielder, who won the World Cup with his country in 2014, was making his first appearance for Germany since retiring from international service in 2021.
The legendary midfielder, 34, was convinced to come out of retirement by Julian Nagelsmann for the European Championships in Germany this summer.
The four-time World Cup winners have experienced a downturn in fortunes in recent years and they were knocked out of the last Euros by England at Wembley.
But Nagelsmann’s appointment has seen performances improve and they earned their best victory yet under the former Bayern Munich boss with a 2-0 win against France in Paris on Saturday.
Kroos played a crucial part in that victory when, just seven seconds after kick-off, he played a long pass to Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz to smash home the opener.
The goal came via a clear tactical instruction from Nagelsmann, that saw four Germany attackers sprint into France’s half following kick off and Kroos picked out Wirtz.
‘We practiced it ahead of time and, as a matter of fact, that was exactly our plan,’ said Kroos.
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