Joshua Kimmich’s dressing room speech to Toni Kroos after Euro 2024 elimination revealed

Joshua Kimmich hailed Toni Kroos as “the greatest German player we have ever had” in a dressing room speech following his retirement from football.

Kroos announced in May that he would hang up his boots after Germany’s Euro 2024 campaign, and their quest to be crowned European champions came to a premature end in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Spain beat Germany 2-1 in one of the tournament’s matches, reaching the semi-finals with a dramatic extra-time victory.

PICTURE There is a detailed account of what happened in the German dressing room following such a seismic defeat, which includes a speech given by Kimmich to his teammates.

The Bayern Munich star, who replaced the right-back during this tournament, took the time to thank Kroos for his contribution to German football.

“I wanted to thank everyone who was there for their efforts,” Kimmich said. “And I wanted to thank Toni.

“He won incredible titles and records. I would have liked to win another title with him. For me, he is undoubtedly the greatest German player we have had. It is also remarkable what kind of guy, what kind of person he is. He is a role model for all of us in the dressing room.”

Kroos hangs up his boots after winning 33 trophies in his playing career and making 845 appearances. He notably played a leading role in Germany’s 2014 World Cup triumph, while spending most of his playing days at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

The 34-year-old’s final professional game could have ended much earlier than the 126 minutes the game lasted. In the second minute of the first half, Kroos fouled Pedri so hard that the Spanish midfielder had to be substituted. He is set to miss the rest of Euro 2024 with a sprained knee – La Roja coach Luis de la Fuente wanted Kroos sent off for the foul.