Toni Kroos (2019) - full transcript
I know people might think I'm crazy,
but it's important for me
to see white shoes when I look down.
It's...
I don't know if it's some kind
of psychological problem I have,
but my shoes have to be white
when I'm playing.
Otherwise I'm not happy.
Those are socks.
We kept losing the ball in the attack
and let them get
the better of us too easily.
We didn't follow through on the tackles,
even though we had
several players out there
that are able to perform at this level.
They didn't do that.
It doesn't mean we shouldn't bother
going to the World Cup.
But...
But it's obvious
that we've got a way to go.
We didn't retain possession,
we kept losing the ball too easily.
We lost it without putting up a fight.
Thanks, Toni.
Is this for me?
Is the police escort for us?
Like for the president.
I don't know...
At some points I was a bit annoyed
because I know
we can do much better as a team.
Supposedly
it wasn't our first eleven, but...
But they always say,
"There are 30 to 40 talented players
and it's a close run thing."
But if I want to go to the World Cup...
then I feel like one or two of them
need to perform better than that.
But it's not the end of the world.
It's better for it to happen today
than later on at the World Cup.
I have the feeling
that I want to be there.
Because it's the nicest place to be.
Other places are okay,
but I love being at home with them.
It changes my mood completely.
I feel good being at home.
It's worth every hour of travel.
Flying around in the night
is not a problem.
Lots of people say
that it doesn't make sense
or that it's too stressful.
But for me, nothing is so stressful
that it could keep me away from home.
That's just how I am.
Others feel differently.
Others don't feel the need
to have to get back home.
But I do.
And so does my wife.
Bad pass there from Toni Kroos.
Not something you'd see at Real.
That lets the Swedes back in the game.
Toivonen moves in. He shoots!
Goal for Sweden!
Why are you guys
dawdling around at the back?
Toni Kroos loses the ball
and with just one single pass,
Toivonen takes it,
it goes straight past the defense,
Neuer comes out, Toivonen lifts it
and the ball is in the net.
He made a pathetically bad pass.
And a bad pass from Toni Kroos
isn't just pathetic, it's excruciating.
Toni Kroos doesn't make bad passes.
He lost the ball
and then didn't properly follow it.
Sweden gets the goal.
Germany is finished.
In the preliminary round.
It was clearly his fault.
We were looking for someone to blame,
and after that everyone said,
"Thanks, Toni,
for causing us this suffering."
Rather than saying,
"We're all playing so badly.
Why should I make any effort?
Let's just fail."
He made himself
go back and prove himself again.
Right after they scored that goal,
rather than going
and moping in the corner,
he said, "Come on. Let's go.
Give me the ball. We can do this."
Ball goes high,
there could be a header.
The knee! Goal!
Marco Reus is there
and he knees it in!
-Werner on the left.
-And it's a foul!
Right on the edge of the penalty area,
the German team gets a free kick.
Imagine it. It's 1-1.
After this free kick,
the whistle will blow.
Immediately after the free kick.
And if the game ends 1-1, you're out.
The score at that point was such
that if they left the pitch
1-1 to Sweden, they would be out.
Kroos takes the ball right away.
He's shouldering the responsibility.
He's facing up to the challenge
with his technique and his ideas.
He won't take it straight away.
The angle is too tight.
The extra time has run out.
Goal!
Goal! 2-1 to Germany!
Toni Kroos, assisted by Reus.
A free kick with his right foot
straight into the net!
He slammed it
into the corner of the net.
It was incredible.
And we were back to square one.
Within 10 seconds.
Football is like that sometimes.
In just a few seconds,
you're back to square one.
It's an incredibly brutal business.
If you'd looked at people's faces
just two minutes earlier,
they were saying: "This is bullshit."
They thought it was over.
The mood was terrible.
One minute later,
we were world champions again.
2-1 to Germany!
I'm losing my mind!
There's an earthquake in Sochi!
The Black Sea is spilling over!
Germany is back in the tournament!
I'm speechless.
I'm crying here. I'm sorry.
It wasn't the final,
but what a rollercoaster that was!
That wand of a foot that he's got...
He's a Merlin, you know...
I knew that Germany
wasn't doing that great.
But then, one man
can kind of turn around
the fortunes of a whole nation.
And in that moment,
that was when I thought
Germany's World Cup was going to start.
You know, and I think Germany did, too.
The defending champions
put on a sorry show in Russia.
For the first time ever,
Germany failed in the first round.
At the bottom of their group,
the team is now
out of the World Cup 2018.
When you wear the jersey,
you're responsible for the results
and you're assessed by those results.
That's very tough.
That shows what all football players
especially the players at the very top,
have to go through and have to deal with.
Because after that,
three or four weeks later,
you have to go back to your club
and score points.
That's a huge mental challenge.
Toni's always being accused
of being laid-back and not caring.
But he's not like that, of course.
What I appreciate about Toni
is that he's incredibly confident.
He needs to be.
Sure, a lot of things affect him.
But he gets over them fairly quickly.
Other people might let things get to them
or keep playing things
over and over in their heads.
You can't survive like that.
Follow Daddy.
Just wait upstairs.
-Good?
-Yes, let's go.
Here we go, come on.
That's good, okay, big smile.
Serious face...
Look in this direction...
Thumbs up and that's it.
-Okay.
-Great.
-Thanks.
-You're welcome.
-I do the interview and go out, okay?
-Okay.
-This way?
-Yeah.
Okay.
Take this seat... All right.
-In German?
-Yes.
And also, remember to include
in your answers, the question...
Okay. Here we go.
-Hey.
-How are you?
-Great. And you?
-Fine.
-Ready?
-You're the one who has to be ready.
I don't have to do anything.
-Just chill out.
-Exactly.
Elevator this way?
You have the stairs and an elevator here.
Upstairs?
Here on the right.
Another set of stairs.
-Kroos! How are you?
-How are you?
-Hello.
-Hello, how are you? Good?
-Good.
-I'm fine.
-And you?
-Good.
Great.
-Car for two, right?
-We need two cars.
Two cars, we need two cars.
Messi is going first, honey.
-Okay.
-Okay?
He can move away from the door.
By a miracle, they're all here...
Please welcome to the stage
the best football team on planet Earth.
Toni Kroos!
Thank you, gentlemen.
Make some noise, please!
I think people in Spain can't tell
what kind of person Toni Kroos is.
He's a player
who doesn't appear in public very often.
That's rare at Real Madrid.
Players usually
have great societal relevance.
He's a very discrete person
who rarely appears in the public domain.
He's not often seen in the streets.
From our point of view,
he seems typically German.
That also goes for his looks.
He's blond, tall.
He doesn't laugh often.
He radiates a certain seriousness.
He seems extremely professional.
We look at a person from the outside
and judge the impression they make.
I wouldn't judge Kroos
by his appearance.
Real Madrid is the golden standard.
It's the biggest, most important club
of the 20th century,
the most successful
and the most legendary.
Getting there is
the biggest achievement for a player.
And the biggest test, too.
Santiago Bernabéu told us we had to have
the best players in the world.
So I signed the best.
Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, Owen.
Robinho...
Cristiano, Kaká, Benzema,
Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos.
And that works.
What that creates
is a very special type of glamour.
It lets the whole world know
that there's a world class player
in every position.
I don't mind saying that.
Real Madrid made me
feel small as a person, you know?
Made me feel as I've got a small penis.
And we're supposed to have
"the best league in the world."
And that doesn't make me feel good.
'Cause football is my religion,
and I don't want there to be
other gods that are bigger.
What a chance... Ronaldo again!
Oh, my word!
Ronaldo, the world's best footballer...
with and absolutely stunning goal!
Unbelievable!
Kroos moves in,
passes to Varane, rounds to Nacho...
And again!
Kroos to Marcelo, over to the left,
Asensio, Marcelo...
Goal!
Real Madrid's game always flows
to the rhythm of Toni Kroos.
I think...
...he's one of the most
important players on the team
because he controls the ball
and the rhythm that we play in.
If Toni wants the team
to slow down, we do.
If he wants us to speed up, we do.
He decides everything.
The first fascinating thing about him
is that there's nothing special.
He's not especially tall.
He's not especially fast.
He's not especially vigorous.
At first glance, he's an average player.
Average weight, height and speed.
His special skill
is being able to see the game
more clearly, more quickly,
and differently than the others.
He's got great anticipation.
Not just in terms of the plays at hand,
but also of what could happen
as a result.
He can see the game three steps ahead.
If you asked him
why he made a certain pass,
he might say,
"It was the logical thing to do."
Or, "I didn't think anything."
That's his inexplicable genius,
that's what fascinates us.
He's like a land surveyor.
Before architects
can build anything spectacular,
everything has to be carefully measured
and made perfectly flat.
Only after that can we move towards
the spectacular creations.
But he's already gone off
to ensure we don't mess up
anything over there.
Toni is...
a guiding spirit, a conductor,
in the traditional sense of the word.
Whenever I see him,
I feel like there's an orchestra.
He's a part of that orchestra,
but at the same time, he's outside it.
Some people say, "There he goes again,
with another cross pass."
No, he's controlling the ball.
He's balancing out the orchestra
and telling them not to reach
their peak just yet.
"It's a simple match right now.
Let's just keep things calm
and build up to that climax.
But you have to give me time
to lead you there."
Toni's greatest ability
is the excellent technique...
...that he brings to the game.
He's always looking up,
which gives him a fantastic overview.
Considering other players
who play in that position,
he's one of the best two midfielders
in the world today.
He sees everything.
And that has to do with the fact
that he's always able to cope.
Whatever happens.
He's calm and collected.
The very greatest players
are mentally strong.
They're not just good football players,
they have to have clear heads, too.
Nowadays, the brain decides much more
than the feet do.
The laser passing,
the 50 yard pass,
and it doesn't sort of loop either way,
it just goes straight
to the foot of the person.
And I don't think I've ever struck a ball
where the ball has done that.
Ever in my life...
You know, and he does it regularly,
all the time.
I loved watching Toni train.
I loved the sight of him training.
In training, he is just exceptional.
He really is.
I choose my words with care. It's simple.
I've never seen him lose the ball.
Okay, maybe one time.
It was always elegant and efficient.
He never has a bad day.
He loves to play football.
He always wants to play.
I think that connects us both.
The love for the game.
For me the game...
For me, the game comes first.
Win a game? Sure.
But by playing.
Sure, play defensively
so as not to lose the ball,
but the game comes first.
I think we both feel that way.
Toni is playing again tonight.
10 pm. Another late one.
We'll have to be ready by then.
Felix is playing at 1:30 pm today.
Toni was on TV yesterday.
-Why was that?
-Because of his stamps.
Oh, because of his tattoos?
-Yes.
-I think they're so silly.
But he knows that already.
Felix was the kind of boy who said,
"I can't do. I won't do it.
It doesn't work."
And when Felix
would get annoyed and grumpy,
then Toni found it hilarious.
He'd laugh at him
and Felix would sulk even more.
That was how it went. We saw that a lot.
-Hello!
-Here we are with the family.
There's the birthday boy!
The family's future football star!
-What?
-The future football star!
The garden is still there.
Yeah. And Grandma and Grandpa
are still there, too.
That's true.
When Grandma and Grandpa visit,
Grandpa always has a piece of advice.
"When the goalkeeper comes out too far,
then lob it."
The goalkeeper is often on the ground,
but they keep shooting towards him.
Can't they lift the ball up and over him?
I mean, it's difficult...
You have to shoot quickly.
But can't they kick it... any higher?
I think there's room
for improvement there.
Another piece of advice from Grandpa:
"Don't run too much in the first half.
Save energy for the second."
I often follow that one.
Granddad is funny. He really is.
That's the Toni that I know.
Calm and composed.
-He gets that from his grandma.
-Me?
Yes, you're the calm one.
I get so nervous!
No, it's not from me.
It must come from the father's side.
He knows he can do it.
When you're so technically skilled,
why would you get nervous?
Well, you'd be nervous.
But we don't know where Toni gets it.
We've wondered about that.
Maybe ask Roland again.
Yes, okay.
With the number 8, Tom Selchow.
With the number 10, Marco Kröger.
And with the 16, Fatlind Memaj.
And Greifswald FC's trainer, Roland Kroos.
Keep it under control!
Come on, Ryo.
Hand up!
Don't lose contact with the ball.
Keep moving!
What was that? Come on!
Move along, come on!
Come on, next one. Come on!
Go on, Nick!
Keep up the pace!
Get between them!
Are you blind?
In the 57th minute,
the visiting team Hertha Zehlendorf
takes the lead with 2-1.
Toni has such inner peace.
I wonder myself where it comes from.
I didn't have it
when I used to play sport.
Felix doesn't either.
It must be something
that he learned himself.
He's been like that a long time,
ever since he was little.
People from Mecklenburg have a reputation
for being a little introverted and quiet,
not immediately out-going and extroverted.
Toni personifies that perfectly.
He's accused of being apathetic,
but he's really not at all.
That's what he seems like on the outside.
Inside things often look very different.
He's an emotional person.
Maybe it's a bit like a wall
that you build around yourself.
You don't open up
or reveal yourself to just anybody.
When we first got together
and I would introduce him to friends,
I would tell them to be nice.
Because the way he acts,
he might come across as a bit...
a bit strange.
Maybe because he seems disinterested
or he doesn't do small talk
like other people might do.
But he needs time to warm up to people.
It's not easy, it's not easy...
That's why, maybe, some big players
that played here, they didn't succeed.
Because, mentally, it's not easy.
You have to be on the high level,
all the time.
Because Real Madrid
doesn't permit you to be less than
good.
Go in - even where there's no match on -
and just look down.
It gets to you.
Even when there's nobody there.
It's enormous.
And it's the biggest in the world.
If you go there,
you've got your work cut out for you.
You can't even hide behind a color,
you stand there in a snow white jersey,
like a damsel.
Everyone can see you,
everyone judges everything you do.
It's easy to go mad there, or fail.
-You're sweating?
-I am.
We should do this in... I don't know...
But not in Miami.
-Now relax, stay there. You feel that?
-No, it's okay. It's good.
Tell me when you feel...
In Spanish we say... It's the same.
-Okay, I...
-Mind same, and body same. It's the same.
I don't understand one word what you said.
-In Spanish?
-Mind same, and body same.
-It's the same.
-Yeah, it's okay.
-I know what you mean, but...
-It's not so difficult.
-It sounds weird.
-You never nervous.
-Me?
-Never.
-No? You don't think?
-Well, in the games,
in the games, I have seen you
take the phone to speak,
you should go outside to play,
take off the phone, go outside and play...
Come inside to a half,
watch just a little bit, answer, like...
Yeah, I buy the tomatoes
when I came back home.
-Incredible, like you are...
-It's better like this, no?
-If it's... I know, I know.
-Yeah, but not every people can do this.
Not every people can have this cold mind
to go outside in front of 80,000 people.
For me, it's just football.
Yes, football, yeah, but this is the key.
If you give not much
importance to things...
No, I give much importance to this...
I also trust in me, but it's not always
so easy how it looks like.
If it looks easy, my job is done.
-Your staff says the same, Iceman...
-Iceman.
That you don't have doubts
and your moves is, like, clear... Inside.
It's like, never...
-And no celebrating?
-Just do this.
Keep your foot straight.
Some of you... Keep it straight.
Keep it straight.
Hanno, keep it straight.
The ball is curving too much.
Toni always enjoyed kicking a ball
around the field.
You could tell right away
that he was good with the ball.
He started training at the age of five
and by the age of six,
he was spending a lot of time there.
His father supervised it all from day one.
Roland always had it under control.
From the very start.
Then he became the trainer himself.
Dad could kill two birds with one stone:
spend time with us
and use his skills
as a trainer at the same time.
He had a good eye for it
and he really supported us.
While we grew as players,
he grew as a trainer.
Get ready!
Toni took to it overnight.
Show him once and he could do it:
shooting with right and left,
step overs, dribbling,
getting past an opponent.
And from an early age.
He was never the quickest,
but he could think quicker,
and I think that nowadays
that's one
of his key features as a player.
Best player of the tournament
was Toni Kroos from Greifswald FC.
Hi, my name is Toni Kroos.
I play for the Hansa D1 youth team.
And I predict 1-0 to Hansa.
Hansa was in the first division back then
and the youth training center
had a good reputation.
It soon became clear
that the club
wanted to have me and Felix too.
I sometimes wonder how we managed
to wake up so early back then.
We usually had training before school.
Then we'd go to school.
We'd go back home
for maybe half an hour or an hour
and quickly eat something
and then go to training again.
You'd get back some time in the evening
and then you were meant to do homework.
I often neglected that. So did you.
Yeah...
The day was organized
around school and football.
You have your own ambitions too,
of course.
You have to be very careful.
There are times
where you have to ask yourself
if your own ambition
isn't overshadowing that of the kids.
I would be lying if I said
it's not like that.
At some point, when you realize
how much talent you're dealing with,
then that makes you want
to take the next step
and help the kids
to become professional football players.
And I think that if you don't
understand the situation,
you can make mistakes.
He was 50% dad and 50% trainer.
Of course something gets lost
when you train with your father
and he has to treat you like the others,
or even be a little more strict
than with the others.
I didn't protest,
because I liked it back then.
But looking back,
I think it was a bit too much.
Looking at our father-son relationship,
I think that suffered a little.
So many things in my life have changed,
you become famous,
and things around you change.
You lose family, you lose friends,
you gain new family and new friends.
You have to leave your town behind,
'cause of things that happened.
One of the main stays in my life,
that's always been there for me,
that's always been constant,
has been football.
It's been like a father to me...
A brother to me, and a best friend.
Yeah, football is a religion to me.
Football creates moments of passion,
like nothing else in the world can.
It stirs up more emotions
than anything else.
If a film director
could create the same emotions,
then they'd be the most famous
director in the world
and film-making would be
the best-paid business.
It stirs up emotions that you perhaps
don't normally feel so strongly.
Football suddenly allows you to cry.
Many men can't,
even if something bad happens.
But watching football,
they're suddenly crying.
Find me somebody
who can say,
"I couldn't care less about football."
It would be interesting
to see how that happened.
I'm not judging them.
How did they manage not to get
swept up in this madness
at some point in their life?
Football is a game
where almost everything fails,
where you make plans,
but they turn out differently.
That makes football
an amorphous kind of nothingness.
When non-regulars go to see a game,
they soon realize not much happens.
Those 90 minutes are fairly boring.
80% of the significant passes
don't reach the players,
80% of the chances go to waste.
Very little actually works out.
It's a game
where you're always desperately trying
to bring order to disorder,
and to bring chaos under control,
even though that's impossible.
Toni Kroos' passes go through
about 95% of the time.
That means he's a player
who keeps the game going.
Give him the ball and he passes it on.
There are no errors in the system.
While the others are battling
not to get lost in that confusion,
Toni Kroos stands out as someone
who even in the most stressful situations
shows utter control,
effortlessness and peace of mind.
Somebody has run into a dead end
and there are three mutts
about to go for his throat.
Kroos always appears from somewhere
and says, "Give it here."
"Give it here. I've got this."
And then he's...
He can breathe again.
These days, in football,
where everything is so quick,
up and down like rush hour, you know?
Everything is happening so fast,
but for him, no.
For him, seems everything
to be in slow motion.
Football intensifies your emotions.
You can feel love and hate
and get swept up in it all.
He represents the opposite of that:
the rational nature of the game.
He's not there
to make crazy things happen,
he's there to ensure
that things play out rationally,
in the midst of that chaos.
And a lot of people seemingly
don't know what to do with that.
Roland said, "I think Uli Hoeneß called."
I said, "No, he didn't." "He did."
When he called us up,
it just felt completely surreal.
We had a normal conversation,
but we were like,
"Wow. This can't be real."
Then the call was over
and we sat there and said,
"Did that just happen or was I dreaming?"
It was...
It was all just a bit too much
at that moment.
I thought about it for a long time.
My favorite club, Werder Bremen,
was also an option,
and it was closer to home.
But at some point,
I let go of that idea, too,
because I decided
that I had to pursue my own path.
He left when he was 16.
That was very difficult for me.
I kept laying the table for four people
and sitting down and crying.
Even though Felix was still there,
thank goodness.
But I had the feeling
that he wasn't coming back.
He's gone and he's not coming back.
And he didn't.
It's normal to get 14 and 15-year-olds
from around the world nowadays
and bring them to Munich.
It's questionable, of course.
I'm not a fan of it.
But there's no way of stopping it now.
It was an experiment back then
to take a 16-year-old
away from his family.
We knew that we were taking on
a huge social responsibility.
He never showed us
how he was really feeling.
I think it was tough
for him, too, at first.
But he didn't show it, of course.
So I can't say for sure.
The first year is always the hardest.
I cried a lot because I missed my family.
But Toni was nearly 1,000 km
away from home.
And I was only 200 km away.
But both distances
mean that you no longer
see each other every day.
It forms character, though.
You grow up very quickly.
If this kid doesn't grow up
to be a football superstar,
then I'm clueless about football.
I told him that at Bayern Munich
after only a few months.
Because he...
He wasn't nervous at all.
Other players get diarrhea
three days before a game.
But Toni wasn't one of them.
He was always sure of what he could do.
Even in bad matches,
you could see that he had something
that most young people don't.
And that is talent on the ball.
You even saw that in bad matches.
Even Franz Beckenbauer
played badly sometimes,
but you still saw that he could
do things others would never learn.
It was like that with Toni, too.
In the 81st minute,
Ottmar Hitzfeld had an idea.
With the score at 2-1 to Belgrade,
17-year-old Toni Kroos was brought on.
His first free kick
helped Klose level it up to 2-2.
His next free kick became a goal
that made it 3-2 to Bayern.
Then came the whistle.
He's the match-winner, that's for sure.
I'm sorry?
Who was the match-winner? Lúcio.
Okay? He was the best man on the pitch.
He played an exceptional game today.
Not Toni Kroos.
Stop exaggerating.
It's not good to praise boys too much.
He got it to 2-2 and then 3-2...
Fine, the free kick.
But even you and I could do that!
-Good morning.
-Good morning.
Thank you for coming.
Toni is 17 now.
He's turning 18 in January.
He's a very young lad
and there's no point hyping him up now
to world star status,
only for the same people
who are now lifting him up
to drop him again in the future.
We don't want to be among those people,
so we've decided we will protect him.
We hope he'll be at Bayern for 15 years.
There are so many games left to play,
there's no need to rush into things.
Here's a little story.
Normally the foreign players
go to the "club".
That's what we call the circle
of foreigners on the training field.
Toni surprised us by coming
to play with the Spanish players.
We all noticed that.
He's integrated really well
and we always joke around with him.
So he quickly became a part of the team
after he arrived.
He's very, kind of, structured
in what he does, he's very organized.
So, I come in quite early
to get some treatment off the physio,
to get prepared for training.
He has his, maybe two or three
pairs of boots, always the same.
And never changes them, so yeah,
I think doesn't trust the kit man
so much to look after them, so...
He's always in the boot-room, cleaning,
making sure his boots are perfect.
And well looked after, because he
doesn't like to change them too much.
The way he behaves and plays
makes people
come to the stadium to see him.
They don't just come to see a win,
but to see how he passes the ball.
For me he's one of those players
who was born
to play for Real Madrid.
-Welcome.
-How are you?
Aren't you too warm in that?
You'll just have to suffer.
-Where do we go? There?
-Yeah.
-Hello.
-The best German player.
That's not difficult, is it?
Yes, it is.
Not at the moment.
Everything all right? You rested good?
Okay, So, we are ready, here...
-We are happy.
-Happy also. Yeah, you, too?
My wife is happy,
which is a good sign for the club, also.
No, but it's true, it's true.
If they're not happy,
then everything is wrong.
For some reason, German players
in this club have always been excellent.
It's strange, and some of them,
really important
but I think that the most important one
is going to be Toni.
Already we've had Günter Netzer and
we had Uli Stielike and all these people.
I think that the most important one
is going to be Toni.
Is already Toni.
-Okay, we should do this. Shall we?
-Yeah. But I have no idea of this.
Okay, I'll leave you here,
and I'll be there...
You'll have to explain,
because I only know the numbers.
Not anything else.
Right.
You'll come after?
I think so. Unless something happens.
We should be okay.
Can we turn off the sound for a moment?
Do you think it's normal
that you need five copies of something?
-It's ridiculous.
-Yeah.
-Got everything?
-Yes.
-Done.
-Thank you.
-Come here.
-Congratulations.
I'm happy, you know?
Thank you, my friend.
Congratulations.
Congratulations.
Good work, my friend.
Let's go.
We'll take it with us
and pass it on to your wife.
Yeah.
Daddy, now backwards.
You really want to?
Okay, let's go.
Go!
We've lived in Madrid for four years
and I've never been into the city.
We're not really city types.
We stay at home
like an old married couple.
At first, it was still possible
to go somewhere with Toni.
Since the World Cup in 2014,
I consider it almost impossible.
We're not really the kind of people
who feel the need to go out.
We love being at home
and near the kids,
even at night when they're sleeping.
There's external pressure
to travel and to get away,
but I know that nothing can happen to me,
because when I go home
my family is there for me.
If I've won 5-0 or lost 5-0,
it doesn't matter at all.
I arrive home as a husband, as a dad,
and the match we lost is forgotten.
It's the same when we win a match.
That's what keeps me going.
It's why I perform.
That and the sport itself, of course.
We were both very young.
Toni was 18, I was 20.
We met in Fuerteventura.
I wouldn't say something went
"Bam!" right away,
but he was just such a...
He is such a great person.
We met in Germany soon after.
At some point,
we knew that we were a couple.
When Jessy came into my life,
everything made more sense,
because I had something
which felt more important than the rest.
More important than football.
Football had been
the most important thing until then.
Everything else came after.
I'm sorry I can't always
Tell you and show you
What I feel inside
And how much you matter to me
But I'm not sorry
That things are as they are now
No, I'm not sorry about that
He surpasses himself in many ways.
He changed a lot since the kids were born.
It's clear how much that matters to him
and how grown up he's become.
She's my wife of course,
but she's also my best friend.
I'd be lying if I said we never argue,
but it's never happened...
that it lasted long
or had big consequences.
I never had to sleep on the couch
or anything like that.
He's always there for you.
If I need him,
I know I can rely on him completely.
I think that's a very important virtue.
And I'm happy that he's my older brother.
It's not that I look up to him,
I think we consider each other equals.
That's important, because I don't look
at him as the great football player.
I see him as brother and a normal person.
The love between the two of us
is more important.
We wish each other the very best.
I am absolutely serious when I say
that I'd have no problem with it
if Felix played for Real Madrid
and became World Champion
and we changed places.
Me neither.
In 2008, Klinsmann became Bayern's coach.
In the previous season,
with Ottmar Hitzfeld,
I'd played about 20 to 25 times.
I was 17 years old.
I was often told how great I was
and how well I was doing,
but I never got to play.
I never lost faith in myself though.
Because I was completely certain
that the trainer was wrong.
It was...
It was completely clear to me
that I deserved more.
I think it just didn't fit.
Looking back, he didn't fit at Bayern.
And then his dad fought hard
to move him to Leverkusen.
On loan from Bayern,
he's playing in left midfield,
but when taking corners,
he's center stage.
Kroos has the first chance of the match
and uses it to take it 1-0.
Working his magic with the ball.
This season Toni Kroos has become
a top class midfielder.
Toni needs time to trust a person.
It can become a wonderful connection.
You had to put Toni on the right path,
but then it worked.
But you needed
a little tenacity and power for that.
The trainer was like a father to him.
He took him by the hand
and said, "That's how you do it."
And the team was different.
The team was much friendlier.
They'd meet up
and have barbecues together.
The relationships between them
were much more natural.
Not like in Munich,
where it was all a little posh.
He made progress there.
The sums of money
that were being discussed
made us think,
"Wow. Maybe we do need an expert."
Roland made sure he found
a consulting firm that suited Toni.
Shall we go home?
Taking the ball with you?
He'll have it in bed with him tonight.
Toni got on very well
with the agents fairly quickly,
They soon became more like friends to him.
It wasn't
like a typical agent relationship.
Roland was soon out of the picture.
I'm sure they got a lot more for him
than Roland could have.
But he was still his father
and he was always there
for Toni to talk to in the early days.
But he was out of the picture
when it came to the sporting side.
And that was a change.
After having been
beside him the whole time.
It was very difficult for me to let go.
I can admit that.
Because...
You always think there's something
you can do to help,
but you have to realize
that at some point you can't anymore.
That's difficult to accept, I think.
All of a sudden,
that's just the way it is.
When someone says,
"I don't want that anymore, Dad."
You feel a little offended at first.
I hoped that it might mean
that we could stop
having those conversations
about football and contracts.
And that we could talk
about personal, private things instead.
Someone was going to take over,
someone professional,
who would do a better job,
and also who understood football.
The job would be in good hands
and he'd be able to let go.
Get in there! Great!
See?
Hannes?
Do you have work on Friday?
Yeah? No training?
But you know what to do?
Toni was so happy at Bayer Leverkusen,
he didn't want
to go back to Bayern Munich.
There he was, a young person,
who wants to stay and carry on playing
for Bayer Leverkusen.
But he can't.
I started thinking about
what I should do next.
And ultimately I chose,
once again, the less comfortable option.
I said, "Okay, I'll go back
and try once again
to make my mark in Munich."
Shortly after that, my contract
with Bayern Munich was extended.
We signed the contract
in Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's office.
It was...
Ten minutes afterwards,
I regretted having signed it.
Because I didn't feel like the club
was happy with the extension.
It seemed more like the club
was making me feel
like I should be happy
at being allowed to sign it.
And when I signed,
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said something
about what a great contract I had gotten,
which meant that now it was up to me
to play a little bit better.
How often do you get
a Champions League final
in your own stadium?
The people were euphoric.
The fans were in a frenzy.
I'd never seen the city
in such a euphoric state before.
And that's the way we went into the game.
There was no way
that the Chelsea team could win.
The team wasn't good,
they had already peaked.
They had many injuries
and suspended players.
It was all wrapped up.
Bayern was clearly
going to walk away with the trophy.
Robben, Ribéry, and... Oh!
They've won 60% of all tackles
and had 60% ball possession.
Only the goal is missing. Ribéry... Čech.
Heynckes and his favorite pupil, Kroos.
Kroos. Luiz.
Müller, Gómez... Gómez!
They did everything right and did it well!
For a long time,
it felt like it would work out.
The Chelsea team was so inferior
and Bayern had the ball
and was dictating the game.
Kroos.
Müller!
Goal!
Goal!
And about time.
Bayern! Bayern!
Bayern is raising the roof!
Nice cross from Toni Kroos
and then Müller
somehow manages to head it in.
Müller scored that goal and it felt like,
"Okay, this is over.
Just like we expected.
Let's go home and celebrate."
But then came Didier Drogba
and had another idea.
-Get in...
-1-1!
-I don't believe it!
-Drogba!
Didier Drogba in the 89th minute.
Okay, this is terrible.
Drogba's header made it 1-1
in the very last minute.
Extra time. Penalties.
The question now is:
Will we be seeing those players
who missed penalties against Madrid?
Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm?
Who's got the balls to do this?
Before the penalty shoot-out,
you got the sense
that Bayern wasn't prepared for it.
Normally, before a game like that,
you would have considered
every single eventuality
and have a very clear idea
of what was going to happen.
But there was chaos on the pitch.
You could see everything became frantic.
I remember seeing poor Jupp Heynckes
struggling to get the players together.
That was unusual.
Jupp Heynckes normally
had the team totally under control.
It was a shame
that some of them ducked out.
People who could
and should have taken the penalties.
I was ready to take a penalty, of course.
But I wasn't completely convinced
that I would score.
So for the good of the team
I wanted better scorers,
or people who felt more confident,
to take them.
Neuer. And it's in!
Olić is foiled by Čech.
Bastian Schweinsteiger.
If someone had predicted
this would happen,
they would have been sent out of town.
Didier Drogba.
Out.
Chelsea wins the Champions League.
This is devastating.
No.
If you made Toni Kroos take a penalty
with a blindfold on at midnight,
he'd still manage to score.
But there he didn't take one.
Saying Toni Kroos didn't have the balls
to take that penalty,
that's just laughable.
If anyone has balls, it's him.
He's clever enough to know
whether he should take one or not.
I was in a situation like that.
I didn't want to take a penalty
in the final in 1976.
Beckenbauer said, "You're not seriously
letting the kids take them?"
Fine. So I took the penalty.
And we all know the result.
The fascinating thing about that
was that Toni Kroos did something
that was very typical of him.
He made a decision
based on rational logic and reason.
If they had won on penalties,
he would have been applauded
for not letting his ego
get the better of him,
for being sensible and having
good judgment of his own skills.
But because they lost on penalties,
his decision not to take one,
which originally was sensible,
suddenly seems very different.
That contributes to the reputation
he had at Bayern Munich
of being a player
who shies away from responsibility,
which is very un-German.
Being a player that ducks out
in the crucial moment,
Toni, one moment please.
There was a suspicion
surrounding this generation.
I call it the "Oliver Kahn suspicion":
That they didn't have the guts
to clinch the big titles.
And Toni Kroos embodied that suspicion.
Because he was never cocky,
he doesn't play a melodramatic game,
he never said, "We'll destroy them"
or "We'll tear up the pitch"
or "We'll go all out".
You'd never hear Kroos
make aggressive statements like that.
Then in the final they suffered
that unfortunate, lame defeat.
In a way, Toni Kroos
was the ideal scapegoat.
Football is very passionate.
The fans like those players
that run a lot and jump and fight,
players who make big statements
and create huge moments.
Lots of people like that.
Toni is a very intelligent,
rational player,
and very calm.
So often, when things go wrong,
we look to lay the blame
on those players who seem
to be more cold and technical.
But when things go wrong,
those players are the bravest,
the most courageous.
The loudest players
often sneak off and hide
in those tricky moments.
Toni is the opposite:
he's a very calm player,
but in the difficult moments,
he's the bravest of all.
When we meet a person,
we form an image of them.
And it's hard to get that image
out of our heads.
I think that's why lots of people
at Bayern Munich,
including Karl-Heinz Rummenigge,
who's running the whole operation,
were looking more closely at his mistakes
than at his capabilities.
For the fans, he was "Cross Pass Toni".
"Here he goes with another little pass.
But nothing ever happens!"
Kroos just played like this
and this and this.
Unspectacular.
It never had any immediate,
explosive result.
It had something - if you'll excuse me -
something boring.
It was like a metronome somehow,
his style of playing.
I thought that with him,
Bayern wasn't going anywhere.
Nowadays, you often face
very personal criticism.
As a football player you like to say,
"That doesn't matter to me.
I don't care. I don't let it get to me."
He would never show it,
but I know him well enough
to know that he does think about it
and that it gets to him sometimes.
Not showing any weakness
isn't the most important thing to him,
but it's something
that does make him feel strong.
I think he needs to not show weakness,
he grew up that way.
That sometimes affects
his private life as well.
He doesn't talk about his feelings much.
In our family, we didn't talk
about our feelings very much.
We never learned to do that.
Maybe that makes you want to seem strong
and not show any weakness.
It's only in the past few years
that I've started opening up
and realized it's not weak
to show your weaknesses.
I know that the world I live in
isn't normal.
I was always aware
that I was doing pretty well.
I've been lucky.
Firstly, I've been able
to turn my hobby into my job.
That's the first thing.
I earn quite a lot of money.
I'm healthy.
My wife is healthy
and I have healthy kids.
I don't think many people
have all of those things.
So I'm aware that I'm doing quite well.
What happened to the airplane, Leon?
Before Christmas, all of the Real players
take presents to kids
that are in hospital.
The first time Toni went,
he met a little boy,
a boy who had cancer
and was in a wheelchair.
He was the exact same age as Leon.
I think that was the moment he thought,
"Not everybody is lucky enough
to have healthy kids."
He was very affected by that.
He told me about it when he came home.
He had already decided
that he wanted to set up a foundation
for kids who are seriously ill.
WE MISS YOU
Before the first visit, you're scared.
Everything is out of your control
and you don't know what to expect.
You just expect negative things.
You don't know how to behave
and you're really hesitant.
But you go inside
and everybody is cheerful.
-Do you want a bottle?
-No.
No.
He laughs and says, "Nope."
"Don't you have anything decent?".
I'll find something that you'll want.
There's a lovely,
positive atmosphere in the hospices.
They make it nice for the kids.
There's a sad reason behind it all,
but you don't sense that.
It's so inspiring.
I have so much respect for how the kids
deal with the situation
and how positive they
and their parents are.
It makes you think twice
about your day-to-day problems,
because it makes everything else
seem so trivial.
It's indescribable.
They're real everyday heroes.
The kids, the caregivers,
and also their families.
The second time,
I actually looked forward to going.
I could tell that they were pleased
that we were there
and even small gestures
can mean so much to them.
I would recommend everybody to try it out.
For the kids, of course,
but also for yourself.
You'll see so much strength there,
so much lust for life.
They're in a better mood than some
of the healthy people I visit.
Hold tight to it.
Have fun. See? We managed it.
-Can you say thank you?
-Thank you.
You're welcome. Cute kid.
In the evening, when I'm in bed,
I'll often read new requests
the foundation has received.
I'm one of the people who decides
who we help and how.
When you read them
and learn about the family,
that sort of pulls you back
into the real world.
It's good for me as a person, I think,
and it's so much fun to be able to help.
It's not a huge deal for us:
sorting out some kind of transportation
so that a kid can move around,
go to the forest or to the sea,
helping a family pay
for a new bathroom renovation,
so that it's accessible for the kid.
It's such a huge relief
for them in their everyday lives,
and for us, it's just normal.
Gala dinners aren't our style.
But the foundation needs it.
You need to get press coverage
and do public relations work.
You need to have a gala
to raise your profile.
So that newspapers write about you.
You notice the effect on the donations.
Whenever there is an interview
or an article about the foundation,
there are more donations, of course.
But...
For the good of the foundation,
we're happy to do a gala.
Any other time, we're not.
People often ask me,
if I'm incredibly proud
of my sporting achievements
and of what I do.
Sure, I'm happy when my parents,
my wife and my brother are proud of me.
But if there's one thing
I'm really proud of,
then it was being able to give that boy
this day in the stadium
and making his dad's life easier
for the past few months.
That's what I'm proud of.
Toni Kroos, with the white shoes,
kicks the ball into the box.
Shot! Goal!
Thomas Müller!
In the 11th minute, the German team
leads from a set-piece by Toni Kroos.
Brazil just can't get a hang of this game.
The ball comes to Kroos.
Kroos plays it to Müller
in the penalty area.
Passes it to Klose. Klose!
This is insane!
That was set up beautifully
by Kroos' pass into the penalty area.
Germany is leading 2-0.
Yes, you heard that right.
Here comes their next chance.
And... 3-0!
3-0, 3-0, 3-0!
Toni Kroos, direct to the back of the net!
Wham! Bam! Thank you, ma'am!
The Brazilians are speechless
here in Belo Horizonte.
I can't believe what I'm seeing!
And again! Kroos passes to Khedira.
Back to Kroos. He scores. Goal! 4-0!
4-0!
Germany is toying with the Brazilians!
This is unbelievable!
This isn't happening.
I can see that it's true,
but I feel like those images are wrong.
It can't be real.
Watching it, we were just as overwhelmed
as the Brazilians were,
out on the pitch.
Left to Özil, to Khedira. He shoots. Goal!
He shoots and scores!
5-0!
Goal!
Schürrle has been brought on.
They're standing around
not paying any attention,
Passed to Schweinsteiger in the box...
goal!
It was Schürrle!
The other blond player,
he knocks it in under the crossbar.
Júlio César is lying on the ground,
being helped up by his captain.
7-0!
7-0!
What is going on here?
What is this?
I can't believe it.
The Germans kept their cool
and stayed focused,
while the Brazilians had lost their heads.
The Brazilian team
wanted to win the game using its will.
And ended up being "overwillful",
if that's even a word.
They were completely frantic
and were wearing themselves out
with their own ambition.
And the German team was playing
a more Toni Kroos style game than ever:
cold and precise in the best sense
of the words.
He's level-headed.
He's perfectly balanced.
I never see him nervous,
whatever game it is.
Even in the semi final
or final of the World Cup.
When you talk to Toni
you sense this incredible conviction
and confidence.
Toni isn't scared.
He doesn't get nervous,
whatever is at stake.
Every kid who plays football
wants to win the World Cup one day.
That's pretty unrealistic
because 99% of them never will.
Ending up as one of those few people
who can win, who is allowed to win,
that's incredibly emotional.
I cried, too.
That's normal.
And again when they lifted the cup.
He doesn't normally show so much emotion.
So that showed just how deep it went.
That's normal, isn't it?
It's the World Cup.
It's typical that Podolski
is right in the middle,
even more central than the Chancellor.
And where is Toni Kroos?
A year later, when we were looking
for photos of him with the trophy.
It was really hard to find any.
Because he didn't hold it
in the stadium or in the dressing room.
We would have liked
to have photos of him
to use in calendars
or just as a souvenir.
It would have been nice to have that shot
of him
with the Chancellor and the President.
The fact that he's off by himself
during moments like that,
and not joining in with the rest,
that makes the whole situation
a very special one.
What can I say?
I think that deep down inside,
I'm just as happy
as all of the others in that photo.
But maybe I'm not the kind of person
who displays that outwardly.
I don't feel like I'm missing something
in my collection without that photo.
I was just fine.
I don't feel the need to be
in the middle of the celebrations.
It's important for me to play a role
in those successes,
but after that,
I'll gladly get off the stage.
The appreciation
that Toni felt at Leverkusen
and with Jupp,
he never received at Bayern.
Not really from the fans
or from the people in charge,
and not in the offers
he received to extend his contract.
I was aware of what
the wages were at that level.
Toni wasn't ready
to become the top earner,
but we wanted
to get him to a certain level
and we were nowhere near getting that.
It was a nasty business.
What I secretly thought...
I spoke to him alone and said,
"Look, Toni, that's our limit.
If you say no, then that's it."
He thought for a second
and then said, "It's a no."
I was impressed that he was so decisive.
If we'd given him a bit more
he would have stayed,
but he said no and that's...
I like people who have principles.
And he does.
Four months after
those failed negotiations with Bayern,
Toni Kroos won the World Cup.
So then of course we had...
It was...
the jackpot.
You've got a player at Bayern Munich
who just won the World Cup.
You can't get much better than that.
That summer was fun, I have to admit.
He's a World Champion
and goes to Real Madrid.
I can't think of a single other example
of a player and a club coming together
where it looked so harmless,
but ended up being so explosive.
He was already
one of the best players in the world.
I thought he was really good
back when he was at Bayern.
If I had been President,
I never would have let Toni go.
That's for sure. Absolutely not.
I saw that as a huge loss.
I think if you asked them today,
they wouldn't be very happy about it.
Anyway, that's good news for Madrid,
for football,
and for me,
because I get the chance to train him.
Toni is a great player,
but no player in the world
can do everything on their own.
Clubs have to make tough decisions.
That was a tough decision,
and sure, maybe it was wrong.
Real Madrid was like a puzzle
with a huge piece missing in the middle.
In the back, everything was great.
The goalkeeper and defense
were a good fit.
Up front there was Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale.
That section was complete.
There was a hole here in the middle
and something had to go in there
that would unite the other two pieces.
We were missing the player
that could be relied on
to keep the balance between
attack and defense for 90 minutes.
For many people in Spain,
that was a revelation.
When some players come off the pitch,
like Ronaldinho in his glory years,
or someone like Pirlo,
then even the opponents applaud.
The people would stand up
and grudgingly applaud them.
That's the greatness of Real Madrid.
It contrasts with their own character,
but they love Kroos' logic.
They love him like they loved Merkel
during the good times,
and like German discipline
and the Prussian virtues,
and because they realize
that they themselves are not logical,
and not always sensible.
They're hot-tempered.
I remember how they went crazy
for the artistry of Özil.
With Toni Kroos, it was different.
The temperature crept up slowly
over several weeks,
until suddenly they felt that with him,
nothing would ever go wrong.
And that was great.
The feeling of being in safe hands.
The crowd he had was unpredictable,
but also knowledgeable.
And he gave them a lot.
He explained to them
how he plays football.
And why they have to like it.
Today I have to admit that in all my years
I've been wrong about very few players.
I got him wrong back then.
He's not undergone a transformation.
His game hasn't changed much.
It's just taken me all these years
to understand it better.
I would go as far as saying
that Toni Kroos is partly responsible
for that huge run
of three Champions League wins,
because he established the "Kroos system".
It's very unusual
and not visible at first glance.
He has a sense of humility
towards the game
and is very conscious
about holding himself back.
For me,
that makes him a world class player.
And I don't use that term lightly.
But that's world class.
And it's terrible
that I realized that fact so late.
I'm the trainer for Greifswald FC again.
It feels great to come back
to where it all started.
Our family project meant a lot to me,
because, in a way, we had a dream
and we achieved it.
But I think, looking back, there are
things I would do differently now.
We talked about football
too much sometimes.
I remember the kids would play a match
and then we'd analyze it afterwards.
That's stupid. I wouldn't do that today.
I'd leave the kids in peace
after the game,
no matter how they had played.
He's done really well.
Go in front of me.
Hold on.
Very good?
Unbelievable!
Here come the winners
of the Champions League,
the team we've all been waiting for.
Let's give a big hand to
Real Madrid!
A veritable powerhouse on the pitch,
a third time winner of the
Champions League with Real Madrid...
-Toni!
-Kroos!
For me it's important that the trainers
at the youth clubs say,
"I know you love Ronaldo,
but take a look at Toni Kroos.
He'll show you
what really counts in this game."
What will we say about Toni Kroos
in 20 years?
That is a very good question.
If I'm still alive and you ask me,
I'd say the same thing as today.
He was one of the greatest conductors
that German football ever saw.
I don't know where Toni Kroos' journey
will go next.
He has signed to Real Madrid
for a long time
and I don't know what will happen.
He's already the most successful
German player of all time,
and I don't see anyone else out there
who will be able to catch up to him.
I think he'll win another title or two.
I'm pretty sure of that.
He's achieved everything
he can possibly achieve.
Right now, he should just go and make sure
his future is completely and utterly safe.
That being said,
come to Manchester United.
Toni Kroos truly is
the personification of the best
of what other countries see in Germany.
From Siemens and Germany unity,
to German craftsmanship, German
seriousness and German awkwardness.
German sunburn. That is Toni Kroos.
I can't see any big changes.
Besides in his facial hair.
He's welcome to talk about his feelings
and show vulnerabilities,
and I'm happy to support him.
But for the rest,
he should just keep on going.
Reply?
Thanks, mate.
Leon, what do you like
doing most with Dad?
Play football.
What else?
We don't play football all day.
What else do you enjoy?
PlayStation.
Come, come.
It's very easy to play with him.
Normally, you are German
for good things and bad things.
Bad thing are, you are...
And I cannot be two minutes late.
We once made a bet
with goal wall shooting.
You really messed that up.
-You were really bad at that.
-I'm not talking about that anymore.
but it's important for me
to see white shoes when I look down.
It's...
I don't know if it's some kind
of psychological problem I have,
but my shoes have to be white
when I'm playing.
Otherwise I'm not happy.
Those are socks.
We kept losing the ball in the attack
and let them get
the better of us too easily.
We didn't follow through on the tackles,
even though we had
several players out there
that are able to perform at this level.
They didn't do that.
It doesn't mean we shouldn't bother
going to the World Cup.
But...
But it's obvious
that we've got a way to go.
We didn't retain possession,
we kept losing the ball too easily.
We lost it without putting up a fight.
Thanks, Toni.
Is this for me?
Is the police escort for us?
Like for the president.
I don't know...
At some points I was a bit annoyed
because I know
we can do much better as a team.
Supposedly
it wasn't our first eleven, but...
But they always say,
"There are 30 to 40 talented players
and it's a close run thing."
But if I want to go to the World Cup...
then I feel like one or two of them
need to perform better than that.
But it's not the end of the world.
It's better for it to happen today
than later on at the World Cup.
I have the feeling
that I want to be there.
Because it's the nicest place to be.
Other places are okay,
but I love being at home with them.
It changes my mood completely.
I feel good being at home.
It's worth every hour of travel.
Flying around in the night
is not a problem.
Lots of people say
that it doesn't make sense
or that it's too stressful.
But for me, nothing is so stressful
that it could keep me away from home.
That's just how I am.
Others feel differently.
Others don't feel the need
to have to get back home.
But I do.
And so does my wife.
Bad pass there from Toni Kroos.
Not something you'd see at Real.
That lets the Swedes back in the game.
Toivonen moves in. He shoots!
Goal for Sweden!
Why are you guys
dawdling around at the back?
Toni Kroos loses the ball
and with just one single pass,
Toivonen takes it,
it goes straight past the defense,
Neuer comes out, Toivonen lifts it
and the ball is in the net.
He made a pathetically bad pass.
And a bad pass from Toni Kroos
isn't just pathetic, it's excruciating.
Toni Kroos doesn't make bad passes.
He lost the ball
and then didn't properly follow it.
Sweden gets the goal.
Germany is finished.
In the preliminary round.
It was clearly his fault.
We were looking for someone to blame,
and after that everyone said,
"Thanks, Toni,
for causing us this suffering."
Rather than saying,
"We're all playing so badly.
Why should I make any effort?
Let's just fail."
He made himself
go back and prove himself again.
Right after they scored that goal,
rather than going
and moping in the corner,
he said, "Come on. Let's go.
Give me the ball. We can do this."
Ball goes high,
there could be a header.
The knee! Goal!
Marco Reus is there
and he knees it in!
-Werner on the left.
-And it's a foul!
Right on the edge of the penalty area,
the German team gets a free kick.
Imagine it. It's 1-1.
After this free kick,
the whistle will blow.
Immediately after the free kick.
And if the game ends 1-1, you're out.
The score at that point was such
that if they left the pitch
1-1 to Sweden, they would be out.
Kroos takes the ball right away.
He's shouldering the responsibility.
He's facing up to the challenge
with his technique and his ideas.
He won't take it straight away.
The angle is too tight.
The extra time has run out.
Goal!
Goal! 2-1 to Germany!
Toni Kroos, assisted by Reus.
A free kick with his right foot
straight into the net!
He slammed it
into the corner of the net.
It was incredible.
And we were back to square one.
Within 10 seconds.
Football is like that sometimes.
In just a few seconds,
you're back to square one.
It's an incredibly brutal business.
If you'd looked at people's faces
just two minutes earlier,
they were saying: "This is bullshit."
They thought it was over.
The mood was terrible.
One minute later,
we were world champions again.
2-1 to Germany!
I'm losing my mind!
There's an earthquake in Sochi!
The Black Sea is spilling over!
Germany is back in the tournament!
I'm speechless.
I'm crying here. I'm sorry.
It wasn't the final,
but what a rollercoaster that was!
That wand of a foot that he's got...
He's a Merlin, you know...
I knew that Germany
wasn't doing that great.
But then, one man
can kind of turn around
the fortunes of a whole nation.
And in that moment,
that was when I thought
Germany's World Cup was going to start.
You know, and I think Germany did, too.
The defending champions
put on a sorry show in Russia.
For the first time ever,
Germany failed in the first round.
At the bottom of their group,
the team is now
out of the World Cup 2018.
When you wear the jersey,
you're responsible for the results
and you're assessed by those results.
That's very tough.
That shows what all football players
especially the players at the very top,
have to go through and have to deal with.
Because after that,
three or four weeks later,
you have to go back to your club
and score points.
That's a huge mental challenge.
Toni's always being accused
of being laid-back and not caring.
But he's not like that, of course.
What I appreciate about Toni
is that he's incredibly confident.
He needs to be.
Sure, a lot of things affect him.
But he gets over them fairly quickly.
Other people might let things get to them
or keep playing things
over and over in their heads.
You can't survive like that.
Follow Daddy.
Just wait upstairs.
-Good?
-Yes, let's go.
Here we go, come on.
That's good, okay, big smile.
Serious face...
Look in this direction...
Thumbs up and that's it.
-Okay.
-Great.
-Thanks.
-You're welcome.
-I do the interview and go out, okay?
-Okay.
-This way?
-Yeah.
Okay.
Take this seat... All right.
-In German?
-Yes.
And also, remember to include
in your answers, the question...
Okay. Here we go.
-Hey.
-How are you?
-Great. And you?
-Fine.
-Ready?
-You're the one who has to be ready.
I don't have to do anything.
-Just chill out.
-Exactly.
Elevator this way?
You have the stairs and an elevator here.
Upstairs?
Here on the right.
Another set of stairs.
-Kroos! How are you?
-How are you?
-Hello.
-Hello, how are you? Good?
-Good.
-I'm fine.
-And you?
-Good.
Great.
-Car for two, right?
-We need two cars.
Two cars, we need two cars.
Messi is going first, honey.
-Okay.
-Okay?
He can move away from the door.
By a miracle, they're all here...
Please welcome to the stage
the best football team on planet Earth.
Toni Kroos!
Thank you, gentlemen.
Make some noise, please!
I think people in Spain can't tell
what kind of person Toni Kroos is.
He's a player
who doesn't appear in public very often.
That's rare at Real Madrid.
Players usually
have great societal relevance.
He's a very discrete person
who rarely appears in the public domain.
He's not often seen in the streets.
From our point of view,
he seems typically German.
That also goes for his looks.
He's blond, tall.
He doesn't laugh often.
He radiates a certain seriousness.
He seems extremely professional.
We look at a person from the outside
and judge the impression they make.
I wouldn't judge Kroos
by his appearance.
Real Madrid is the golden standard.
It's the biggest, most important club
of the 20th century,
the most successful
and the most legendary.
Getting there is
the biggest achievement for a player.
And the biggest test, too.
Santiago Bernabéu told us we had to have
the best players in the world.
So I signed the best.
Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, Owen.
Robinho...
Cristiano, Kaká, Benzema,
Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos.
And that works.
What that creates
is a very special type of glamour.
It lets the whole world know
that there's a world class player
in every position.
I don't mind saying that.
Real Madrid made me
feel small as a person, you know?
Made me feel as I've got a small penis.
And we're supposed to have
"the best league in the world."
And that doesn't make me feel good.
'Cause football is my religion,
and I don't want there to be
other gods that are bigger.
What a chance... Ronaldo again!
Oh, my word!
Ronaldo, the world's best footballer...
with and absolutely stunning goal!
Unbelievable!
Kroos moves in,
passes to Varane, rounds to Nacho...
And again!
Kroos to Marcelo, over to the left,
Asensio, Marcelo...
Goal!
Real Madrid's game always flows
to the rhythm of Toni Kroos.
I think...
...he's one of the most
important players on the team
because he controls the ball
and the rhythm that we play in.
If Toni wants the team
to slow down, we do.
If he wants us to speed up, we do.
He decides everything.
The first fascinating thing about him
is that there's nothing special.
He's not especially tall.
He's not especially fast.
He's not especially vigorous.
At first glance, he's an average player.
Average weight, height and speed.
His special skill
is being able to see the game
more clearly, more quickly,
and differently than the others.
He's got great anticipation.
Not just in terms of the plays at hand,
but also of what could happen
as a result.
He can see the game three steps ahead.
If you asked him
why he made a certain pass,
he might say,
"It was the logical thing to do."
Or, "I didn't think anything."
That's his inexplicable genius,
that's what fascinates us.
He's like a land surveyor.
Before architects
can build anything spectacular,
everything has to be carefully measured
and made perfectly flat.
Only after that can we move towards
the spectacular creations.
But he's already gone off
to ensure we don't mess up
anything over there.
Toni is...
a guiding spirit, a conductor,
in the traditional sense of the word.
Whenever I see him,
I feel like there's an orchestra.
He's a part of that orchestra,
but at the same time, he's outside it.
Some people say, "There he goes again,
with another cross pass."
No, he's controlling the ball.
He's balancing out the orchestra
and telling them not to reach
their peak just yet.
"It's a simple match right now.
Let's just keep things calm
and build up to that climax.
But you have to give me time
to lead you there."
Toni's greatest ability
is the excellent technique...
...that he brings to the game.
He's always looking up,
which gives him a fantastic overview.
Considering other players
who play in that position,
he's one of the best two midfielders
in the world today.
He sees everything.
And that has to do with the fact
that he's always able to cope.
Whatever happens.
He's calm and collected.
The very greatest players
are mentally strong.
They're not just good football players,
they have to have clear heads, too.
Nowadays, the brain decides much more
than the feet do.
The laser passing,
the 50 yard pass,
and it doesn't sort of loop either way,
it just goes straight
to the foot of the person.
And I don't think I've ever struck a ball
where the ball has done that.
Ever in my life...
You know, and he does it regularly,
all the time.
I loved watching Toni train.
I loved the sight of him training.
In training, he is just exceptional.
He really is.
I choose my words with care. It's simple.
I've never seen him lose the ball.
Okay, maybe one time.
It was always elegant and efficient.
He never has a bad day.
He loves to play football.
He always wants to play.
I think that connects us both.
The love for the game.
For me the game...
For me, the game comes first.
Win a game? Sure.
But by playing.
Sure, play defensively
so as not to lose the ball,
but the game comes first.
I think we both feel that way.
Toni is playing again tonight.
10 pm. Another late one.
We'll have to be ready by then.
Felix is playing at 1:30 pm today.
Toni was on TV yesterday.
-Why was that?
-Because of his stamps.
Oh, because of his tattoos?
-Yes.
-I think they're so silly.
But he knows that already.
Felix was the kind of boy who said,
"I can't do. I won't do it.
It doesn't work."
And when Felix
would get annoyed and grumpy,
then Toni found it hilarious.
He'd laugh at him
and Felix would sulk even more.
That was how it went. We saw that a lot.
-Hello!
-Here we are with the family.
There's the birthday boy!
The family's future football star!
-What?
-The future football star!
The garden is still there.
Yeah. And Grandma and Grandpa
are still there, too.
That's true.
When Grandma and Grandpa visit,
Grandpa always has a piece of advice.
"When the goalkeeper comes out too far,
then lob it."
The goalkeeper is often on the ground,
but they keep shooting towards him.
Can't they lift the ball up and over him?
I mean, it's difficult...
You have to shoot quickly.
But can't they kick it... any higher?
I think there's room
for improvement there.
Another piece of advice from Grandpa:
"Don't run too much in the first half.
Save energy for the second."
I often follow that one.
Granddad is funny. He really is.
That's the Toni that I know.
Calm and composed.
-He gets that from his grandma.
-Me?
Yes, you're the calm one.
I get so nervous!
No, it's not from me.
It must come from the father's side.
He knows he can do it.
When you're so technically skilled,
why would you get nervous?
Well, you'd be nervous.
But we don't know where Toni gets it.
We've wondered about that.
Maybe ask Roland again.
Yes, okay.
With the number 8, Tom Selchow.
With the number 10, Marco Kröger.
And with the 16, Fatlind Memaj.
And Greifswald FC's trainer, Roland Kroos.
Keep it under control!
Come on, Ryo.
Hand up!
Don't lose contact with the ball.
Keep moving!
What was that? Come on!
Move along, come on!
Come on, next one. Come on!
Go on, Nick!
Keep up the pace!
Get between them!
Are you blind?
In the 57th minute,
the visiting team Hertha Zehlendorf
takes the lead with 2-1.
Toni has such inner peace.
I wonder myself where it comes from.
I didn't have it
when I used to play sport.
Felix doesn't either.
It must be something
that he learned himself.
He's been like that a long time,
ever since he was little.
People from Mecklenburg have a reputation
for being a little introverted and quiet,
not immediately out-going and extroverted.
Toni personifies that perfectly.
He's accused of being apathetic,
but he's really not at all.
That's what he seems like on the outside.
Inside things often look very different.
He's an emotional person.
Maybe it's a bit like a wall
that you build around yourself.
You don't open up
or reveal yourself to just anybody.
When we first got together
and I would introduce him to friends,
I would tell them to be nice.
Because the way he acts,
he might come across as a bit...
a bit strange.
Maybe because he seems disinterested
or he doesn't do small talk
like other people might do.
But he needs time to warm up to people.
It's not easy, it's not easy...
That's why, maybe, some big players
that played here, they didn't succeed.
Because, mentally, it's not easy.
You have to be on the high level,
all the time.
Because Real Madrid
doesn't permit you to be less than
good.
Go in - even where there's no match on -
and just look down.
It gets to you.
Even when there's nobody there.
It's enormous.
And it's the biggest in the world.
If you go there,
you've got your work cut out for you.
You can't even hide behind a color,
you stand there in a snow white jersey,
like a damsel.
Everyone can see you,
everyone judges everything you do.
It's easy to go mad there, or fail.
-You're sweating?
-I am.
We should do this in... I don't know...
But not in Miami.
-Now relax, stay there. You feel that?
-No, it's okay. It's good.
Tell me when you feel...
In Spanish we say... It's the same.
-Okay, I...
-Mind same, and body same. It's the same.
I don't understand one word what you said.
-In Spanish?
-Mind same, and body same.
-It's the same.
-Yeah, it's okay.
-I know what you mean, but...
-It's not so difficult.
-It sounds weird.
-You never nervous.
-Me?
-Never.
-No? You don't think?
-Well, in the games,
in the games, I have seen you
take the phone to speak,
you should go outside to play,
take off the phone, go outside and play...
Come inside to a half,
watch just a little bit, answer, like...
Yeah, I buy the tomatoes
when I came back home.
-Incredible, like you are...
-It's better like this, no?
-If it's... I know, I know.
-Yeah, but not every people can do this.
Not every people can have this cold mind
to go outside in front of 80,000 people.
For me, it's just football.
Yes, football, yeah, but this is the key.
If you give not much
importance to things...
No, I give much importance to this...
I also trust in me, but it's not always
so easy how it looks like.
If it looks easy, my job is done.
-Your staff says the same, Iceman...
-Iceman.
That you don't have doubts
and your moves is, like, clear... Inside.
It's like, never...
-And no celebrating?
-Just do this.
Keep your foot straight.
Some of you... Keep it straight.
Keep it straight.
Hanno, keep it straight.
The ball is curving too much.
Toni always enjoyed kicking a ball
around the field.
You could tell right away
that he was good with the ball.
He started training at the age of five
and by the age of six,
he was spending a lot of time there.
His father supervised it all from day one.
Roland always had it under control.
From the very start.
Then he became the trainer himself.
Dad could kill two birds with one stone:
spend time with us
and use his skills
as a trainer at the same time.
He had a good eye for it
and he really supported us.
While we grew as players,
he grew as a trainer.
Get ready!
Toni took to it overnight.
Show him once and he could do it:
shooting with right and left,
step overs, dribbling,
getting past an opponent.
And from an early age.
He was never the quickest,
but he could think quicker,
and I think that nowadays
that's one
of his key features as a player.
Best player of the tournament
was Toni Kroos from Greifswald FC.
Hi, my name is Toni Kroos.
I play for the Hansa D1 youth team.
And I predict 1-0 to Hansa.
Hansa was in the first division back then
and the youth training center
had a good reputation.
It soon became clear
that the club
wanted to have me and Felix too.
I sometimes wonder how we managed
to wake up so early back then.
We usually had training before school.
Then we'd go to school.
We'd go back home
for maybe half an hour or an hour
and quickly eat something
and then go to training again.
You'd get back some time in the evening
and then you were meant to do homework.
I often neglected that. So did you.
Yeah...
The day was organized
around school and football.
You have your own ambitions too,
of course.
You have to be very careful.
There are times
where you have to ask yourself
if your own ambition
isn't overshadowing that of the kids.
I would be lying if I said
it's not like that.
At some point, when you realize
how much talent you're dealing with,
then that makes you want
to take the next step
and help the kids
to become professional football players.
And I think that if you don't
understand the situation,
you can make mistakes.
He was 50% dad and 50% trainer.
Of course something gets lost
when you train with your father
and he has to treat you like the others,
or even be a little more strict
than with the others.
I didn't protest,
because I liked it back then.
But looking back,
I think it was a bit too much.
Looking at our father-son relationship,
I think that suffered a little.
So many things in my life have changed,
you become famous,
and things around you change.
You lose family, you lose friends,
you gain new family and new friends.
You have to leave your town behind,
'cause of things that happened.
One of the main stays in my life,
that's always been there for me,
that's always been constant,
has been football.
It's been like a father to me...
A brother to me, and a best friend.
Yeah, football is a religion to me.
Football creates moments of passion,
like nothing else in the world can.
It stirs up more emotions
than anything else.
If a film director
could create the same emotions,
then they'd be the most famous
director in the world
and film-making would be
the best-paid business.
It stirs up emotions that you perhaps
don't normally feel so strongly.
Football suddenly allows you to cry.
Many men can't,
even if something bad happens.
But watching football,
they're suddenly crying.
Find me somebody
who can say,
"I couldn't care less about football."
It would be interesting
to see how that happened.
I'm not judging them.
How did they manage not to get
swept up in this madness
at some point in their life?
Football is a game
where almost everything fails,
where you make plans,
but they turn out differently.
That makes football
an amorphous kind of nothingness.
When non-regulars go to see a game,
they soon realize not much happens.
Those 90 minutes are fairly boring.
80% of the significant passes
don't reach the players,
80% of the chances go to waste.
Very little actually works out.
It's a game
where you're always desperately trying
to bring order to disorder,
and to bring chaos under control,
even though that's impossible.
Toni Kroos' passes go through
about 95% of the time.
That means he's a player
who keeps the game going.
Give him the ball and he passes it on.
There are no errors in the system.
While the others are battling
not to get lost in that confusion,
Toni Kroos stands out as someone
who even in the most stressful situations
shows utter control,
effortlessness and peace of mind.
Somebody has run into a dead end
and there are three mutts
about to go for his throat.
Kroos always appears from somewhere
and says, "Give it here."
"Give it here. I've got this."
And then he's...
He can breathe again.
These days, in football,
where everything is so quick,
up and down like rush hour, you know?
Everything is happening so fast,
but for him, no.
For him, seems everything
to be in slow motion.
Football intensifies your emotions.
You can feel love and hate
and get swept up in it all.
He represents the opposite of that:
the rational nature of the game.
He's not there
to make crazy things happen,
he's there to ensure
that things play out rationally,
in the midst of that chaos.
And a lot of people seemingly
don't know what to do with that.
Roland said, "I think Uli Hoeneß called."
I said, "No, he didn't." "He did."
When he called us up,
it just felt completely surreal.
We had a normal conversation,
but we were like,
"Wow. This can't be real."
Then the call was over
and we sat there and said,
"Did that just happen or was I dreaming?"
It was...
It was all just a bit too much
at that moment.
I thought about it for a long time.
My favorite club, Werder Bremen,
was also an option,
and it was closer to home.
But at some point,
I let go of that idea, too,
because I decided
that I had to pursue my own path.
He left when he was 16.
That was very difficult for me.
I kept laying the table for four people
and sitting down and crying.
Even though Felix was still there,
thank goodness.
But I had the feeling
that he wasn't coming back.
He's gone and he's not coming back.
And he didn't.
It's normal to get 14 and 15-year-olds
from around the world nowadays
and bring them to Munich.
It's questionable, of course.
I'm not a fan of it.
But there's no way of stopping it now.
It was an experiment back then
to take a 16-year-old
away from his family.
We knew that we were taking on
a huge social responsibility.
He never showed us
how he was really feeling.
I think it was tough
for him, too, at first.
But he didn't show it, of course.
So I can't say for sure.
The first year is always the hardest.
I cried a lot because I missed my family.
But Toni was nearly 1,000 km
away from home.
And I was only 200 km away.
But both distances
mean that you no longer
see each other every day.
It forms character, though.
You grow up very quickly.
If this kid doesn't grow up
to be a football superstar,
then I'm clueless about football.
I told him that at Bayern Munich
after only a few months.
Because he...
He wasn't nervous at all.
Other players get diarrhea
three days before a game.
But Toni wasn't one of them.
He was always sure of what he could do.
Even in bad matches,
you could see that he had something
that most young people don't.
And that is talent on the ball.
You even saw that in bad matches.
Even Franz Beckenbauer
played badly sometimes,
but you still saw that he could
do things others would never learn.
It was like that with Toni, too.
In the 81st minute,
Ottmar Hitzfeld had an idea.
With the score at 2-1 to Belgrade,
17-year-old Toni Kroos was brought on.
His first free kick
helped Klose level it up to 2-2.
His next free kick became a goal
that made it 3-2 to Bayern.
Then came the whistle.
He's the match-winner, that's for sure.
I'm sorry?
Who was the match-winner? Lúcio.
Okay? He was the best man on the pitch.
He played an exceptional game today.
Not Toni Kroos.
Stop exaggerating.
It's not good to praise boys too much.
He got it to 2-2 and then 3-2...
Fine, the free kick.
But even you and I could do that!
-Good morning.
-Good morning.
Thank you for coming.
Toni is 17 now.
He's turning 18 in January.
He's a very young lad
and there's no point hyping him up now
to world star status,
only for the same people
who are now lifting him up
to drop him again in the future.
We don't want to be among those people,
so we've decided we will protect him.
We hope he'll be at Bayern for 15 years.
There are so many games left to play,
there's no need to rush into things.
Here's a little story.
Normally the foreign players
go to the "club".
That's what we call the circle
of foreigners on the training field.
Toni surprised us by coming
to play with the Spanish players.
We all noticed that.
He's integrated really well
and we always joke around with him.
So he quickly became a part of the team
after he arrived.
He's very, kind of, structured
in what he does, he's very organized.
So, I come in quite early
to get some treatment off the physio,
to get prepared for training.
He has his, maybe two or three
pairs of boots, always the same.
And never changes them, so yeah,
I think doesn't trust the kit man
so much to look after them, so...
He's always in the boot-room, cleaning,
making sure his boots are perfect.
And well looked after, because he
doesn't like to change them too much.
The way he behaves and plays
makes people
come to the stadium to see him.
They don't just come to see a win,
but to see how he passes the ball.
For me he's one of those players
who was born
to play for Real Madrid.
-Welcome.
-How are you?
Aren't you too warm in that?
You'll just have to suffer.
-Where do we go? There?
-Yeah.
-Hello.
-The best German player.
That's not difficult, is it?
Yes, it is.
Not at the moment.
Everything all right? You rested good?
Okay, So, we are ready, here...
-We are happy.
-Happy also. Yeah, you, too?
My wife is happy,
which is a good sign for the club, also.
No, but it's true, it's true.
If they're not happy,
then everything is wrong.
For some reason, German players
in this club have always been excellent.
It's strange, and some of them,
really important
but I think that the most important one
is going to be Toni.
Already we've had Günter Netzer and
we had Uli Stielike and all these people.
I think that the most important one
is going to be Toni.
Is already Toni.
-Okay, we should do this. Shall we?
-Yeah. But I have no idea of this.
Okay, I'll leave you here,
and I'll be there...
You'll have to explain,
because I only know the numbers.
Not anything else.
Right.
You'll come after?
I think so. Unless something happens.
We should be okay.
Can we turn off the sound for a moment?
Do you think it's normal
that you need five copies of something?
-It's ridiculous.
-Yeah.
-Got everything?
-Yes.
-Done.
-Thank you.
-Come here.
-Congratulations.
I'm happy, you know?
Thank you, my friend.
Congratulations.
Congratulations.
Good work, my friend.
Let's go.
We'll take it with us
and pass it on to your wife.
Yeah.
Daddy, now backwards.
You really want to?
Okay, let's go.
Go!
We've lived in Madrid for four years
and I've never been into the city.
We're not really city types.
We stay at home
like an old married couple.
At first, it was still possible
to go somewhere with Toni.
Since the World Cup in 2014,
I consider it almost impossible.
We're not really the kind of people
who feel the need to go out.
We love being at home
and near the kids,
even at night when they're sleeping.
There's external pressure
to travel and to get away,
but I know that nothing can happen to me,
because when I go home
my family is there for me.
If I've won 5-0 or lost 5-0,
it doesn't matter at all.
I arrive home as a husband, as a dad,
and the match we lost is forgotten.
It's the same when we win a match.
That's what keeps me going.
It's why I perform.
That and the sport itself, of course.
We were both very young.
Toni was 18, I was 20.
We met in Fuerteventura.
I wouldn't say something went
"Bam!" right away,
but he was just such a...
He is such a great person.
We met in Germany soon after.
At some point,
we knew that we were a couple.
When Jessy came into my life,
everything made more sense,
because I had something
which felt more important than the rest.
More important than football.
Football had been
the most important thing until then.
Everything else came after.
I'm sorry I can't always
Tell you and show you
What I feel inside
And how much you matter to me
But I'm not sorry
That things are as they are now
No, I'm not sorry about that
He surpasses himself in many ways.
He changed a lot since the kids were born.
It's clear how much that matters to him
and how grown up he's become.
She's my wife of course,
but she's also my best friend.
I'd be lying if I said we never argue,
but it's never happened...
that it lasted long
or had big consequences.
I never had to sleep on the couch
or anything like that.
He's always there for you.
If I need him,
I know I can rely on him completely.
I think that's a very important virtue.
And I'm happy that he's my older brother.
It's not that I look up to him,
I think we consider each other equals.
That's important, because I don't look
at him as the great football player.
I see him as brother and a normal person.
The love between the two of us
is more important.
We wish each other the very best.
I am absolutely serious when I say
that I'd have no problem with it
if Felix played for Real Madrid
and became World Champion
and we changed places.
Me neither.
In 2008, Klinsmann became Bayern's coach.
In the previous season,
with Ottmar Hitzfeld,
I'd played about 20 to 25 times.
I was 17 years old.
I was often told how great I was
and how well I was doing,
but I never got to play.
I never lost faith in myself though.
Because I was completely certain
that the trainer was wrong.
It was...
It was completely clear to me
that I deserved more.
I think it just didn't fit.
Looking back, he didn't fit at Bayern.
And then his dad fought hard
to move him to Leverkusen.
On loan from Bayern,
he's playing in left midfield,
but when taking corners,
he's center stage.
Kroos has the first chance of the match
and uses it to take it 1-0.
Working his magic with the ball.
This season Toni Kroos has become
a top class midfielder.
Toni needs time to trust a person.
It can become a wonderful connection.
You had to put Toni on the right path,
but then it worked.
But you needed
a little tenacity and power for that.
The trainer was like a father to him.
He took him by the hand
and said, "That's how you do it."
And the team was different.
The team was much friendlier.
They'd meet up
and have barbecues together.
The relationships between them
were much more natural.
Not like in Munich,
where it was all a little posh.
He made progress there.
The sums of money
that were being discussed
made us think,
"Wow. Maybe we do need an expert."
Roland made sure he found
a consulting firm that suited Toni.
Shall we go home?
Taking the ball with you?
He'll have it in bed with him tonight.
Toni got on very well
with the agents fairly quickly,
They soon became more like friends to him.
It wasn't
like a typical agent relationship.
Roland was soon out of the picture.
I'm sure they got a lot more for him
than Roland could have.
But he was still his father
and he was always there
for Toni to talk to in the early days.
But he was out of the picture
when it came to the sporting side.
And that was a change.
After having been
beside him the whole time.
It was very difficult for me to let go.
I can admit that.
Because...
You always think there's something
you can do to help,
but you have to realize
that at some point you can't anymore.
That's difficult to accept, I think.
All of a sudden,
that's just the way it is.
When someone says,
"I don't want that anymore, Dad."
You feel a little offended at first.
I hoped that it might mean
that we could stop
having those conversations
about football and contracts.
And that we could talk
about personal, private things instead.
Someone was going to take over,
someone professional,
who would do a better job,
and also who understood football.
The job would be in good hands
and he'd be able to let go.
Get in there! Great!
See?
Hannes?
Do you have work on Friday?
Yeah? No training?
But you know what to do?
Toni was so happy at Bayer Leverkusen,
he didn't want
to go back to Bayern Munich.
There he was, a young person,
who wants to stay and carry on playing
for Bayer Leverkusen.
But he can't.
I started thinking about
what I should do next.
And ultimately I chose,
once again, the less comfortable option.
I said, "Okay, I'll go back
and try once again
to make my mark in Munich."
Shortly after that, my contract
with Bayern Munich was extended.
We signed the contract
in Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's office.
It was...
Ten minutes afterwards,
I regretted having signed it.
Because I didn't feel like the club
was happy with the extension.
It seemed more like the club
was making me feel
like I should be happy
at being allowed to sign it.
And when I signed,
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said something
about what a great contract I had gotten,
which meant that now it was up to me
to play a little bit better.
How often do you get
a Champions League final
in your own stadium?
The people were euphoric.
The fans were in a frenzy.
I'd never seen the city
in such a euphoric state before.
And that's the way we went into the game.
There was no way
that the Chelsea team could win.
The team wasn't good,
they had already peaked.
They had many injuries
and suspended players.
It was all wrapped up.
Bayern was clearly
going to walk away with the trophy.
Robben, Ribéry, and... Oh!
They've won 60% of all tackles
and had 60% ball possession.
Only the goal is missing. Ribéry... Čech.
Heynckes and his favorite pupil, Kroos.
Kroos. Luiz.
Müller, Gómez... Gómez!
They did everything right and did it well!
For a long time,
it felt like it would work out.
The Chelsea team was so inferior
and Bayern had the ball
and was dictating the game.
Kroos.
Müller!
Goal!
Goal!
And about time.
Bayern! Bayern!
Bayern is raising the roof!
Nice cross from Toni Kroos
and then Müller
somehow manages to head it in.
Müller scored that goal and it felt like,
"Okay, this is over.
Just like we expected.
Let's go home and celebrate."
But then came Didier Drogba
and had another idea.
-Get in...
-1-1!
-I don't believe it!
-Drogba!
Didier Drogba in the 89th minute.
Okay, this is terrible.
Drogba's header made it 1-1
in the very last minute.
Extra time. Penalties.
The question now is:
Will we be seeing those players
who missed penalties against Madrid?
Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm?
Who's got the balls to do this?
Before the penalty shoot-out,
you got the sense
that Bayern wasn't prepared for it.
Normally, before a game like that,
you would have considered
every single eventuality
and have a very clear idea
of what was going to happen.
But there was chaos on the pitch.
You could see everything became frantic.
I remember seeing poor Jupp Heynckes
struggling to get the players together.
That was unusual.
Jupp Heynckes normally
had the team totally under control.
It was a shame
that some of them ducked out.
People who could
and should have taken the penalties.
I was ready to take a penalty, of course.
But I wasn't completely convinced
that I would score.
So for the good of the team
I wanted better scorers,
or people who felt more confident,
to take them.
Neuer. And it's in!
Olić is foiled by Čech.
Bastian Schweinsteiger.
If someone had predicted
this would happen,
they would have been sent out of town.
Didier Drogba.
Out.
Chelsea wins the Champions League.
This is devastating.
No.
If you made Toni Kroos take a penalty
with a blindfold on at midnight,
he'd still manage to score.
But there he didn't take one.
Saying Toni Kroos didn't have the balls
to take that penalty,
that's just laughable.
If anyone has balls, it's him.
He's clever enough to know
whether he should take one or not.
I was in a situation like that.
I didn't want to take a penalty
in the final in 1976.
Beckenbauer said, "You're not seriously
letting the kids take them?"
Fine. So I took the penalty.
And we all know the result.
The fascinating thing about that
was that Toni Kroos did something
that was very typical of him.
He made a decision
based on rational logic and reason.
If they had won on penalties,
he would have been applauded
for not letting his ego
get the better of him,
for being sensible and having
good judgment of his own skills.
But because they lost on penalties,
his decision not to take one,
which originally was sensible,
suddenly seems very different.
That contributes to the reputation
he had at Bayern Munich
of being a player
who shies away from responsibility,
which is very un-German.
Being a player that ducks out
in the crucial moment,
Toni, one moment please.
There was a suspicion
surrounding this generation.
I call it the "Oliver Kahn suspicion":
That they didn't have the guts
to clinch the big titles.
And Toni Kroos embodied that suspicion.
Because he was never cocky,
he doesn't play a melodramatic game,
he never said, "We'll destroy them"
or "We'll tear up the pitch"
or "We'll go all out".
You'd never hear Kroos
make aggressive statements like that.
Then in the final they suffered
that unfortunate, lame defeat.
In a way, Toni Kroos
was the ideal scapegoat.
Football is very passionate.
The fans like those players
that run a lot and jump and fight,
players who make big statements
and create huge moments.
Lots of people like that.
Toni is a very intelligent,
rational player,
and very calm.
So often, when things go wrong,
we look to lay the blame
on those players who seem
to be more cold and technical.
But when things go wrong,
those players are the bravest,
the most courageous.
The loudest players
often sneak off and hide
in those tricky moments.
Toni is the opposite:
he's a very calm player,
but in the difficult moments,
he's the bravest of all.
When we meet a person,
we form an image of them.
And it's hard to get that image
out of our heads.
I think that's why lots of people
at Bayern Munich,
including Karl-Heinz Rummenigge,
who's running the whole operation,
were looking more closely at his mistakes
than at his capabilities.
For the fans, he was "Cross Pass Toni".
"Here he goes with another little pass.
But nothing ever happens!"
Kroos just played like this
and this and this.
Unspectacular.
It never had any immediate,
explosive result.
It had something - if you'll excuse me -
something boring.
It was like a metronome somehow,
his style of playing.
I thought that with him,
Bayern wasn't going anywhere.
Nowadays, you often face
very personal criticism.
As a football player you like to say,
"That doesn't matter to me.
I don't care. I don't let it get to me."
He would never show it,
but I know him well enough
to know that he does think about it
and that it gets to him sometimes.
Not showing any weakness
isn't the most important thing to him,
but it's something
that does make him feel strong.
I think he needs to not show weakness,
he grew up that way.
That sometimes affects
his private life as well.
He doesn't talk about his feelings much.
In our family, we didn't talk
about our feelings very much.
We never learned to do that.
Maybe that makes you want to seem strong
and not show any weakness.
It's only in the past few years
that I've started opening up
and realized it's not weak
to show your weaknesses.
I know that the world I live in
isn't normal.
I was always aware
that I was doing pretty well.
I've been lucky.
Firstly, I've been able
to turn my hobby into my job.
That's the first thing.
I earn quite a lot of money.
I'm healthy.
My wife is healthy
and I have healthy kids.
I don't think many people
have all of those things.
So I'm aware that I'm doing quite well.
What happened to the airplane, Leon?
Before Christmas, all of the Real players
take presents to kids
that are in hospital.
The first time Toni went,
he met a little boy,
a boy who had cancer
and was in a wheelchair.
He was the exact same age as Leon.
I think that was the moment he thought,
"Not everybody is lucky enough
to have healthy kids."
He was very affected by that.
He told me about it when he came home.
He had already decided
that he wanted to set up a foundation
for kids who are seriously ill.
WE MISS YOU
Before the first visit, you're scared.
Everything is out of your control
and you don't know what to expect.
You just expect negative things.
You don't know how to behave
and you're really hesitant.
But you go inside
and everybody is cheerful.
-Do you want a bottle?
-No.
No.
He laughs and says, "Nope."
"Don't you have anything decent?".
I'll find something that you'll want.
There's a lovely,
positive atmosphere in the hospices.
They make it nice for the kids.
There's a sad reason behind it all,
but you don't sense that.
It's so inspiring.
I have so much respect for how the kids
deal with the situation
and how positive they
and their parents are.
It makes you think twice
about your day-to-day problems,
because it makes everything else
seem so trivial.
It's indescribable.
They're real everyday heroes.
The kids, the caregivers,
and also their families.
The second time,
I actually looked forward to going.
I could tell that they were pleased
that we were there
and even small gestures
can mean so much to them.
I would recommend everybody to try it out.
For the kids, of course,
but also for yourself.
You'll see so much strength there,
so much lust for life.
They're in a better mood than some
of the healthy people I visit.
Hold tight to it.
Have fun. See? We managed it.
-Can you say thank you?
-Thank you.
You're welcome. Cute kid.
In the evening, when I'm in bed,
I'll often read new requests
the foundation has received.
I'm one of the people who decides
who we help and how.
When you read them
and learn about the family,
that sort of pulls you back
into the real world.
It's good for me as a person, I think,
and it's so much fun to be able to help.
It's not a huge deal for us:
sorting out some kind of transportation
so that a kid can move around,
go to the forest or to the sea,
helping a family pay
for a new bathroom renovation,
so that it's accessible for the kid.
It's such a huge relief
for them in their everyday lives,
and for us, it's just normal.
Gala dinners aren't our style.
But the foundation needs it.
You need to get press coverage
and do public relations work.
You need to have a gala
to raise your profile.
So that newspapers write about you.
You notice the effect on the donations.
Whenever there is an interview
or an article about the foundation,
there are more donations, of course.
But...
For the good of the foundation,
we're happy to do a gala.
Any other time, we're not.
People often ask me,
if I'm incredibly proud
of my sporting achievements
and of what I do.
Sure, I'm happy when my parents,
my wife and my brother are proud of me.
But if there's one thing
I'm really proud of,
then it was being able to give that boy
this day in the stadium
and making his dad's life easier
for the past few months.
That's what I'm proud of.
Toni Kroos, with the white shoes,
kicks the ball into the box.
Shot! Goal!
Thomas Müller!
In the 11th minute, the German team
leads from a set-piece by Toni Kroos.
Brazil just can't get a hang of this game.
The ball comes to Kroos.
Kroos plays it to Müller
in the penalty area.
Passes it to Klose. Klose!
This is insane!
That was set up beautifully
by Kroos' pass into the penalty area.
Germany is leading 2-0.
Yes, you heard that right.
Here comes their next chance.
And... 3-0!
3-0, 3-0, 3-0!
Toni Kroos, direct to the back of the net!
Wham! Bam! Thank you, ma'am!
The Brazilians are speechless
here in Belo Horizonte.
I can't believe what I'm seeing!
And again! Kroos passes to Khedira.
Back to Kroos. He scores. Goal! 4-0!
4-0!
Germany is toying with the Brazilians!
This is unbelievable!
This isn't happening.
I can see that it's true,
but I feel like those images are wrong.
It can't be real.
Watching it, we were just as overwhelmed
as the Brazilians were,
out on the pitch.
Left to Özil, to Khedira. He shoots. Goal!
He shoots and scores!
5-0!
Goal!
Schürrle has been brought on.
They're standing around
not paying any attention,
Passed to Schweinsteiger in the box...
goal!
It was Schürrle!
The other blond player,
he knocks it in under the crossbar.
Júlio César is lying on the ground,
being helped up by his captain.
7-0!
7-0!
What is going on here?
What is this?
I can't believe it.
The Germans kept their cool
and stayed focused,
while the Brazilians had lost their heads.
The Brazilian team
wanted to win the game using its will.
And ended up being "overwillful",
if that's even a word.
They were completely frantic
and were wearing themselves out
with their own ambition.
And the German team was playing
a more Toni Kroos style game than ever:
cold and precise in the best sense
of the words.
He's level-headed.
He's perfectly balanced.
I never see him nervous,
whatever game it is.
Even in the semi final
or final of the World Cup.
When you talk to Toni
you sense this incredible conviction
and confidence.
Toni isn't scared.
He doesn't get nervous,
whatever is at stake.
Every kid who plays football
wants to win the World Cup one day.
That's pretty unrealistic
because 99% of them never will.
Ending up as one of those few people
who can win, who is allowed to win,
that's incredibly emotional.
I cried, too.
That's normal.
And again when they lifted the cup.
He doesn't normally show so much emotion.
So that showed just how deep it went.
That's normal, isn't it?
It's the World Cup.
It's typical that Podolski
is right in the middle,
even more central than the Chancellor.
And where is Toni Kroos?
A year later, when we were looking
for photos of him with the trophy.
It was really hard to find any.
Because he didn't hold it
in the stadium or in the dressing room.
We would have liked
to have photos of him
to use in calendars
or just as a souvenir.
It would have been nice to have that shot
of him
with the Chancellor and the President.
The fact that he's off by himself
during moments like that,
and not joining in with the rest,
that makes the whole situation
a very special one.
What can I say?
I think that deep down inside,
I'm just as happy
as all of the others in that photo.
But maybe I'm not the kind of person
who displays that outwardly.
I don't feel like I'm missing something
in my collection without that photo.
I was just fine.
I don't feel the need to be
in the middle of the celebrations.
It's important for me to play a role
in those successes,
but after that,
I'll gladly get off the stage.
The appreciation
that Toni felt at Leverkusen
and with Jupp,
he never received at Bayern.
Not really from the fans
or from the people in charge,
and not in the offers
he received to extend his contract.
I was aware of what
the wages were at that level.
Toni wasn't ready
to become the top earner,
but we wanted
to get him to a certain level
and we were nowhere near getting that.
It was a nasty business.
What I secretly thought...
I spoke to him alone and said,
"Look, Toni, that's our limit.
If you say no, then that's it."
He thought for a second
and then said, "It's a no."
I was impressed that he was so decisive.
If we'd given him a bit more
he would have stayed,
but he said no and that's...
I like people who have principles.
And he does.
Four months after
those failed negotiations with Bayern,
Toni Kroos won the World Cup.
So then of course we had...
It was...
the jackpot.
You've got a player at Bayern Munich
who just won the World Cup.
You can't get much better than that.
That summer was fun, I have to admit.
He's a World Champion
and goes to Real Madrid.
I can't think of a single other example
of a player and a club coming together
where it looked so harmless,
but ended up being so explosive.
He was already
one of the best players in the world.
I thought he was really good
back when he was at Bayern.
If I had been President,
I never would have let Toni go.
That's for sure. Absolutely not.
I saw that as a huge loss.
I think if you asked them today,
they wouldn't be very happy about it.
Anyway, that's good news for Madrid,
for football,
and for me,
because I get the chance to train him.
Toni is a great player,
but no player in the world
can do everything on their own.
Clubs have to make tough decisions.
That was a tough decision,
and sure, maybe it was wrong.
Real Madrid was like a puzzle
with a huge piece missing in the middle.
In the back, everything was great.
The goalkeeper and defense
were a good fit.
Up front there was Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale.
That section was complete.
There was a hole here in the middle
and something had to go in there
that would unite the other two pieces.
We were missing the player
that could be relied on
to keep the balance between
attack and defense for 90 minutes.
For many people in Spain,
that was a revelation.
When some players come off the pitch,
like Ronaldinho in his glory years,
or someone like Pirlo,
then even the opponents applaud.
The people would stand up
and grudgingly applaud them.
That's the greatness of Real Madrid.
It contrasts with their own character,
but they love Kroos' logic.
They love him like they loved Merkel
during the good times,
and like German discipline
and the Prussian virtues,
and because they realize
that they themselves are not logical,
and not always sensible.
They're hot-tempered.
I remember how they went crazy
for the artistry of Özil.
With Toni Kroos, it was different.
The temperature crept up slowly
over several weeks,
until suddenly they felt that with him,
nothing would ever go wrong.
And that was great.
The feeling of being in safe hands.
The crowd he had was unpredictable,
but also knowledgeable.
And he gave them a lot.
He explained to them
how he plays football.
And why they have to like it.
Today I have to admit that in all my years
I've been wrong about very few players.
I got him wrong back then.
He's not undergone a transformation.
His game hasn't changed much.
It's just taken me all these years
to understand it better.
I would go as far as saying
that Toni Kroos is partly responsible
for that huge run
of three Champions League wins,
because he established the "Kroos system".
It's very unusual
and not visible at first glance.
He has a sense of humility
towards the game
and is very conscious
about holding himself back.
For me,
that makes him a world class player.
And I don't use that term lightly.
But that's world class.
And it's terrible
that I realized that fact so late.
I'm the trainer for Greifswald FC again.
It feels great to come back
to where it all started.
Our family project meant a lot to me,
because, in a way, we had a dream
and we achieved it.
But I think, looking back, there are
things I would do differently now.
We talked about football
too much sometimes.
I remember the kids would play a match
and then we'd analyze it afterwards.
That's stupid. I wouldn't do that today.
I'd leave the kids in peace
after the game,
no matter how they had played.
He's done really well.
Go in front of me.
Hold on.
Very good?
Unbelievable!
Here come the winners
of the Champions League,
the team we've all been waiting for.
Let's give a big hand to
Real Madrid!
A veritable powerhouse on the pitch,
a third time winner of the
Champions League with Real Madrid...
-Toni!
-Kroos!
For me it's important that the trainers
at the youth clubs say,
"I know you love Ronaldo,
but take a look at Toni Kroos.
He'll show you
what really counts in this game."
What will we say about Toni Kroos
in 20 years?
That is a very good question.
If I'm still alive and you ask me,
I'd say the same thing as today.
He was one of the greatest conductors
that German football ever saw.
I don't know where Toni Kroos' journey
will go next.
He has signed to Real Madrid
for a long time
and I don't know what will happen.
He's already the most successful
German player of all time,
and I don't see anyone else out there
who will be able to catch up to him.
I think he'll win another title or two.
I'm pretty sure of that.
He's achieved everything
he can possibly achieve.
Right now, he should just go and make sure
his future is completely and utterly safe.
That being said,
come to Manchester United.
Toni Kroos truly is
the personification of the best
of what other countries see in Germany.
From Siemens and Germany unity,
to German craftsmanship, German
seriousness and German awkwardness.
German sunburn. That is Toni Kroos.
I can't see any big changes.
Besides in his facial hair.
He's welcome to talk about his feelings
and show vulnerabilities,
and I'm happy to support him.
But for the rest,
he should just keep on going.
Reply?
Thanks, mate.
Leon, what do you like
doing most with Dad?
Play football.
What else?
We don't play football all day.
What else do you enjoy?
PlayStation.
Come, come.
It's very easy to play with him.
Normally, you are German
for good things and bad things.
Bad thing are, you are...
And I cannot be two minutes late.
We once made a bet
with goal wall shooting.
You really messed that up.
-You were really bad at that.
-I'm not talking about that anymore.