New Delhi: Spain have become the first team to make it through to the semi finals of this year’s UEFA Euro campaign. However, it came at the expense of Germany, as the hosts were left stunned and heartbroken on the pitch after conceding a last minute goal. Germany looked like the favourites to lift the trophy after their brilliant group stage performances to make it throught to the knock out stages.
The Germans won comfortably against Denmark, beating them 2-0 to progress through to the quarter finals. However against Spain, it was a match with high stakes and turned out to be an end to end game. Both the sides showed the urgency and the desire to go forward and despite a goalless first half, Spain got the lead thanks to an Dani Olmo strike from edge of the box. Germany had a numerous chances to level the game and there were certain moments where they almost did. However, it was their young star Florian Wirtz who scored the leveller right at the end of the 90 minutes.
This helped Germany to drag the game into extra time where they kept on pushing but just couldn’t find the back of the net. However, these efforts and missed opportunities came back to haunt them when out of all the players, it was Mikel Merino, the substitute who scored a 119th minute winner for Spain to knock Germany out of this Euro campaign. However, Toni kroos coudn’t get the fairytail ending that he would’ve been looking forward to, but it has nothing to do with his illustrious career and the things he has done on the pitch over the years.
Toni Kroos says goodbye to football
05 July 2024, Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart: Soccer, UEFA Euro 2024, European Championship, Spain – Germany, final round, quarter-final, Stuttgart Arena, view into the arena. Germany’s Toni Kroos says goodbye to the fans. Photo: Bernd Weißbrod/dpa (Photo by Bernd Weißbrod/picture alliance via Getty Images)
One of the best midfielders of all time says goodbye to the beautiful game, as a defeat against Spain means it was the last time Toni Kroos would ever set foot on the green grass as a player. The 34-year-old has had an illustrious career both at the club as well as the international level. With the national side, he has famously won the 2014 World cup in Brazil while being the backbone of the team since 2009. He has also scored a total of 17 goals while also having 21 assists to his name in his 114 appearances for the German side.
Toni Kroos is without a doubt, one of the best Galacticos to ever step foot on Santiago Bernabeu that includes the likes of his long term midfield partner Luka Modric, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Xabi Alonso. He has a leagacy to match, playing for two European giants, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich where he won the champions league six times, most by any player. The wonderful playmaker has also won four Laliga titles with Real Madrid and three Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich.
However, tonight’s match marked his final appearance of his footballing career which unfortunately ended in a loss as Spain knocked Germany out of the UEFA Euro 2024 campaign. This has nothing to do with the things he has achieved throughout his playing career. A true legend who won everything including the hearts of all the football lovers.
It was a heartbreaking night for the Germans after getting knocked out by Spain, and more specifically a heartbreak for Toni Kroos as he says goodbye to football. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
