In the 83rd minute, something very strange happened: Toni Kroos missed a pass, something that before the game against Betis of his farewell to the Santiago Bernabéu that ended goalless had only happened 907 times in his stadium, where he has successfully scored 13,608 times. It was the moment that Carlo Ancelotti had planned to replace him and get a standing ovation from the stands. But the German did not want to leave at that moment. Not like that. He asked the Italian for a little more. The play had led to a foul and he wanted to shoot it. The shot, very far away, was sent to a corner by Vietes. He took it out too. Only then did the assistant show the number 8 and the goodbye ritual began: he took off the captain’s armband that Nacho had left him and placed it on Modric, the tireless partner in the center of the field, the last one who will remain in Madrid at that time. trio they composed with Casemiro.
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Courtois (Arrizabalaga, min. 63), Dani Carvajal (Lucas Vázquez, min. 73), Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, Nacho (Eder Militao, min. 63), Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Kroos (Dani Ceballos, min. 86) , Camavinga (Modric, min. 73), Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo
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![Betis](https://as01.epimg.net/img/comunes/fotos/fichas/equipos/large/171.png)
Francisco Vieites, Ricardo Visus, Sokratis, Sabaly, Juan Miranda, Johnny, Héctor Bellerín, Ayoze Pérez, Marc Roca, Rodri (Sergi Altimira, min. 72) and Willian José (Abde, min. 80)
Goals
Referee Isidro Díaz de Mera Escuderos
Yellow cards Nacho (min. 5), Dani Carvajal (min. 71) and Sokratis (min. 83)
There was little left in the game and in that little bit nothing happened, while Kroos hugged Ancelotti and everyone on the bench, and then his three excited children and his wife. “I’ve been pretty strong up until this point, but my kids have killed me,” he later explained. His eyes turned red, the football ended and the footballer was left saying goodbye to a stadium that sang to him for minutes like he had never sung to it: “I love you, Toni Kroos, I love you, Toni Kroos.” First standing with his children in front of the south end, then in a long walk around the field. “You play every two weeks here, but it’s so special… I’m going to notice it these years when I don’t have it anymore,” he said. “They have been ten unforgettable years.”
It is possible that the deepest mark that Kroos will leave on football is his ability to transform a procedure into a memorable moment. With his last night at the Bernabéu, full for an inconsequential match, with the League already celebrated and the mind of Real Madrid fans in Wembley. What he has been doing for half his life with the pass, the most basic set of the game, the elementary alphabet, cartographic annotations of the German’s white boots. Although understanding the significance of his instructions as a conductor has not always been evident.
Five years ago, the premiere of his documentary left some regrets. Like that of veteran television commentator Marcel Reif: “he is a world-class player. And it is terrible that he realized it so late,” he laments. “He played like this, like that, and like that. Nothing spectacular. He didn’t have an immediate, explosive result. And, if you allow me, it was a bit boring.”
Kroos has been patient with the lack of understanding, aware of the scope and effect of his game, as he explained in an interview with Jorge Valdano: “With my qualities alone, a team wins nothing. But my qualities help to dominate games. “The games are won in the middle.” His clairvoyance also helps to get out of compromised places, such as the downpour that Madrid found itself in in Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern. Until he appeared: he grabbed the ball and reordered the world with a recipe as simple as it was unattainable. He explained it in that 2019 documentary: “Before I receive the ball, I actually already know what I’m going to do with it. Knowing what space is next on the field that is free.”
This sometimes seems inconsequential, but the impact on game development is formidable. In his ten years in Madrid, no one has ruled the games like him. At the Bernabéu, before the game against Betis, Opta has counted him more good passes than any other player on the team, in 197 games, also more than anyone else since he arrived in the summer of 2014.
Kroos said goodbye after those thousands of small gestures with an extraordinary achievement: he has managed to be understood to the point that the Bernabéu made it clear that he was going to miss something that he did not always fully understand.
Retiring at the top, as he always said he wanted to do, has not only been doing so in full power, but leaving the public wanting more of what at first they did not understand why they needed it.
Also to his colleagues. Like Vinicius, one night three years ago, in a classic, he needed three seconds of signals from the German to start running towards the place where he was going to score the goal. A month ago, in Munich, Kroos barely shook his index finger while the Brazilian was already going to meet the ball with which he beat Neuer, and thus they escaped the storm together. Heading to the Champions League final next Saturday in London. “The best way to go would be to win the title,” said Kroos, who is seeking his sixth Orejona.
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