Lothar Matthaus has savaged Toni Kroos in wake of his retirement from Germany duty by claiming the Real Madrid star is ‘no longer international class’.
The German midfielder decided to walk away from the national team after Germany lost 2-0 against England at Wembley early at Euro 2020.
Kroos said he wants to focus on his club career at Real Madrid going forward but for former German international Matthaus, Kroos’ decision is no great loss.
‘Kroos is no longer international class’, Matthaus told German magazine Kicker.
‘Personally, I have nothing against Toni Kroos, but I don’t agree with the way he plays.’
Matthaus added: ‘When he passes the ball, he loses speed again because there is hardly any gain in space and the pace is taken off.’
A large amount of the blame for the England defeat was put on the Real Madrid superstar.
Last week, former Bayern Munich chief Uli Hoeness was vocal in his criticism of the 31-year-old.
‘He no longer has a place in the modern game’. Hoeness told Sport1, singling Kroos out to blame for the Wembley defeat.
‘His way of playing is completely done. He no longer fits with today’s football.’
The midfielder replied sarcastically on Twitter, writing: ‘Uli Hoeness is a man with great knowledge of football (even if it wasn’t enough for RTL), little interest in polemics and completely at peace with himself. Similar to his Greenkeeper (groundman).’
The final part of Kroos’ tweet was in reference to remarks Hoeness made about Matthaus in 2002.
Hoeness insisted Matthaus would never return to Bayern as long as he was in charge, even as a greenkeeper.
Kroos played for Germany for the last 11 years. In 2010 Kroos made his debut for the national team.
He helped Germany win the 2014 FIFA World Cup, finishing as the top assister of the tournament.
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