Kroos pays tribute to Heynckes

The Germany international appreciated the team trainer for helping him develop in his career, while he insisted on becoming a crucial player for the national side.

Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Toni Kroos has lavished praise on head coach Jupp Heynckes for taking him under his wing in his youth career. The manager first coached him at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2009, as the star player spent 18 months on loan at the club, before reuniting with him at the Allianz Arena in 2011.

Kroos failed to get in the first team at Der FCB when he returned from his loan spell, but due to Heynckes he has now developed as a key player for the Bavarian giants. He claimed that the trainer gave him confidence to play at the highest level and he will be devastated when Heynckes’ retires from the coaching job.

“Heynckes was the coach who gave me the chance to play in the Bundesliga. That’s why I’ll be sad when he retires. I’ll always be grateful. Without him I wouldn’t be the person that I am today. That’s his work,” he added.

“I’m very comfortable with my development. But that doesn’t mean I’ll do less in future. There’s the next step which I can and must reach. Without a doubt, Netzer understands football. Maybe he sees my potential if he says something like that,” he mused.

“I play for Bayern who are the best team after Barcelona. And when you’re a starter there, you’re on the right tracks. But I wouldn’t judge myself in public. That would be embarrassing. Sure, I want to be a starter for Germany, too. The European Championship was dissatisfying for me [as I played only 108 minutes],” he concluded.

Kroos stated that he is thankful to the 67-year-old and wants to improve further in the coming games.

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Posted by Rizwan Kazmi on Jan 28 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.