Kroos is Germany's footballer of the year
Great Honor for Toni Kroos: Just a few weeks after the Euro quarter-final, which was the last game of his illustrious career, the 2014 World Cup winner is named Germany's Footballer of the Year. Unsurprisingly, the champion coach of Bayer Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso, is also honored.
Toni Kroos has been voted Germany's Footballer of the Year once again, just after his retirement. The 34-year-old, who played his last professional game in the Euro quarter-final against Spain, beat Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka to the top spot in the "Kicker" poll. The coach of the year award went to Leverkusen's champion coach, Xabi Alonso, as expected.
"This result is a nice confirmation and a great recognition of what I achieved last year," said Kroos. "And even though this will be the last time I'm chosen, it's an award that's not based on gratitude to a player who's retiring. It's not a sympathy vote, it has nothing to do with age or the end of a career, it's just about performance on the pitch - at least I hope that's the case."
Kroos, the Title Collector
Before the Euros, Kroos had won his sixth Champions League title with Real Madrid. Bundestrainer Julian Nagelsmann had convinced the 2014 World Cup winner to return to the national team at the start of the year, bringing security and confidence back to the DFB team in preparation for the home tournament. Kroos was already voted Footballer of the Year in 2018.
"Toni Kroos is now ending a great career. Unfortunately, not as European champion. But as Spanish champion, Champions League winner, Footballer of the Year in Germany for the second time, and at the height of his popularity," said DFB sporting director Rudi Völler. Kroos received 285 votes, Wirtz 246, and Xhaka 66.
Clear Victory for Alonso
The vote for best coach was much clearer. Alonso received 503 votes after leading Leverkusen to the double, 429 more than Sebastian Hoeneß of VfB Stuttgart. Frank Schmidt of Heidenheim came third with 55 votes, ahead of Nagelsmann with 39.
"I still feel overwhelmed by such awards as Coach of the Year, because I have so much respect for the other colleagues who have been doing their job for years," said Alonso, who narrowly missed out on the third title with Bayer in the Europa League final. "But of course, it's not just my work that earned me this title, it's also the performance of the team and the entire staff. The award belongs to the whole team. I'm just their representative as a coach."
The first mention of Xabi Alonso in the text is as the champion coach of Bayer Leverkusen, who received the coach of the year award. Towards the end of the text, Alonso expresses gratitude for the award, acknowledging that it's not just his work that earned him the title, but also the performance of the team and the entire staff.
