By Sean Walsh
Joshua Kimmich hailed Toni Kroos as 'the greatest German player we've ever had' in a dressing room speech following his retirement from football.
Kroos announced in May he would hang up his boots following Germany's Euro 2024 campaign, and their quest to be crowned champions of Europe came to a premature end at the quarter-final stage on Friday.
Spain beat Germany 2-1 in one of the games of the tournament, reaching the semi-finals with a dramatic win after extra-time.
BILD have an extensive report on what went down in the German dressing room in wake of such a seismic defeat, which includes a speech given by Kimmich to his teammates.
The Bayern Munich star, who has filled in at right-back this tournament, took the time to thank Kroos for his contributions to German football.
"I wanted to thank everyone who was there for their efforts," Kimmich said. "And I wanted to thank Toni.
"He celebrated incredible titles and records. I would have loved to have won another title with him. For me, he is indisputably the greatest German player we've had. It's also remarkable what kind of guy, what kind of person he is. He's a role model for all of us in the dressing room."
Kroos hangs up his boots after collecting a staggering 33 trophies during his playing career and having played 845 games. He notably played a starring role in Germany's World Cup triumph of 2014, while he spent the majority of his days at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
The 34-year-old's final professional game could have ended much sooner than the 126 minutes which the match lasted. In the second minute of the first half, Kroos fouled Pedri with such force that the Spain midfielder had to be substituted, and he is expected to miss the rest of Euro 2024 with a knee sprain - La Roja boss Luis de la Fuente wanted Kroos sent off for this challenge.
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This article was originally published on 90min.com as Joshua Kimmich's dressing room speech to Toni Kroos after Euro 2024 exit revealed.
