"Leaving Madrid was the hardest decision of my life"

The football world reacted to the announcement of Toni Kroos' retirement. A different kind of footballer who has marked an era both in the sport and at Real Madrid. The German midfielder wanted to assess his decision on his brother's podcast.

"Anyone who has listened to me carefully over the last few years will have heard me say that the only option for me is to finish my career at Real Madrid. My last season at Real means that this summer will be the end. No more Real, no more football. It's much easier to think it for a long time than to say it," he began.

And he confessed that it was far from easy to say goodbye: "I often get goosebumps when I experience something, when I'm in the stadium or when someone says something. But if you say something yourself and you get goosebumps, then it must be special. Even outside of sport, I think it was probably the hardest decision of my life.

"Thank God I haven't had to make a more difficult decision in my private life. But when you start playing football at the age of six and you run it to some extent until you're 34, it's a very, very serious decision if football has always been at the centre of your life. That's why it's not so easy. Now I can understand this feeling, on the one hand very happy and on the other hand sad." he continued.

Kroos also stated that he had already been thinking about it last season: "I was already a little bit at the point of making this decision a year ago. It was already made then. But I had also been thinking about it for a long time. In retrospect, I have to say that it was the right decision to continue for another year, because things really worked out as I expected. I stayed healthy, it wasn't too much for my body, it was another full season without injuries. Besides, I had a great time. I really enjoyed most of the games, I managed to keep up my level and we were successful as a team."