#5 His hero was Frenchman Johan Micoud
By no means a ‘household’ name in the sport, but it’s perhaps from this idolisation that Kroos’ playing style stems. The former-Werder Bremen player occupied a similar position on the pitch to Kroos, who claims to have admired the Frenchman’s ‘calm and composed’ nature on the ball.
These are certainly traits which have translated to how tenacious Toni plays his game and the 27-year-old revealed that he was such a fond admirer of Micoud, that his first ever jersey had his name and number printed on the back of it.
#6 His younger brother Felix shows that football runs in the family
Still sadly in the shadows of his successful brother’s omnipotent glow, Felix Kroos has found the ladder to footballing greatness a lot more slippery than Toni. Formerly of Werder Bremen, 25-year-old Felix struggled to nail down a regular starting spot in holding midfield and transferred to Union Berlin for €500,000 last summer.
His list of accolades is very meagre indeed compared to his older sibling, but he did win the 2007 ‘Talent of the Year’ award in Mecklenburg-Vorpommen and has exhibited great versatility in his career, having started out as a frontman, but having played as far back as centre-half to get game time in his career.
