Former Bayern Munich and Real Madrid star Toni Kroos is not known for softening the blow with his critique and the former German national team midfielder does not think Die Mannschaft is a serious contender for the World Cup at this point.
“We’re not among the teams who can have the biggest ambitions right now. Because others are simply better. Nevertheless, I believe that if you can choose from the best German players and everyone is fit, we still absolutely have our strengths. It’s true that we’re currently miles away from talking about the World Cup title. But the tournament is taking place next summer. As things stand, we’re miles away and really not in a good position. But in the summer – let’s get the right players fit. We’re very lucky that we’ve been drawn into a (qualifying) group where it’s impossible to be eliminated,” Kroos said during an appearance on his Einfach mal Luppen podcast (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
It would be hard to dispute what Kroos is saying, but — somehow — he could actually be more optimistic than many fans of the German national team at this point.
Head coach Julian Nagelsmann has his work cut out for him in the coming months.
Bayern Munich is back in action this week and a tough slate of games lies ahead. Before we tackle all of that, though, there is much to unpack from Germany’s international break and the explosive performance from Uli Hoeneß on SPORT1-Doppelpass over the weekend.
Let’s get into all of that more on this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works Show! This is what we have on tap: