Toni Kroos Biography
Toni Kroos is one of the best playmakers in worldwide soccer. His biography tells the story of a man who always was and is still expected to become the next superstar in German soccer history.
Childhood and Hansa Rostock
Photo used with permission
Toni was born on January 4th, 1990 in Greifswald, Germany. He is the son of Roland and Birgit Kroos. His younger brother, Felix, is a soccer player, too, and currently plays for Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga.
Toni started his career playing for Greifswalder SC in his hometown where he was trained by his father Roland. Roland Kroos took a job as a youth coach at soccer team Hansa Rostock in 2002. He told the persons responsible about his talented son Toni. They saw Toni playing in a couple of games and he moved to Rostock.
Young Toni Kroos played really well in the following years, placing second with the U17 team in the national championship in 2005. German record champion club*, Bayern Munich, sent out their scouts to get information about Kroos. They saw great potential in him and signed him in the summer of 2006. The media predicted a great career for him.
*Bayern Munich holds the record for the most German championships.
Bayern Munich
Due to fantastic performances for the U19 team, Kroos started practicing with the senior team and appeared in several friendly games. Kroos finally became part of the senior squad at the beginning of the 2007/08 season.
He made his Bundesliga debut on Septerber 26, 2007 when he was substituted into a 5–0 win over Energie Cottbus. He assisted 2 of the goals. This made him the second youngest player who has ever played for Bayern Munich.
In the summer of 2009 Bayern Munich signed a new coach: Jürgen Klinsmann. He told Kroos to leave the club on loan to get more playing experience. Kroos left Bayern Munich in the winter of 2009 and moved to Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayer Leverkusen
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An injury prevented Kroos from having a good start in Leverkusen. Even so, he scored his first goal in the Bundesliga on April 18, 2009. At the beginning of the new season (2009/2010), Toni's biggest competitor, Renato Augusto, got injured, and Kroos got a spot in starting eleven.
He played a fantastic season and scored 9 goals. This season was his final breakthrough as a senior. Bayern Munich was impressed by his performances and decided to bring back to Munich.
Return to Munich
Kroos once again profited from injuries of his biggest competitors, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. These injuries helped Toni Kroos to get a spot at the playmaker position. At first, he struggled with his form but became better and better. Today he is key factor in Bayern Munich's offense and in the German national team.
