Toni Kroos: His Humble Beginnings

From the coastal lowlands of the North and Baltic Sea to the midlands of wavey mountains and river valleys, the dense forested mountains of the south, and the snow-capped Alps, Germany is blessed with the diversity of nature. Many great heroes of history have walked on the Deutschland grounds. The bearer of mixed culture, Germany is called in German - "Das Land der Dichter und Denker", which means - "Land of poets and philosophers". Greifswald is a small, tidy town on the Baltic Sea northeast of Germany. Tony Kroos, the magician on the football field, was born on January 4, 1990 in Greifswald, the birthplace of the famous German painter Caspar Friedrich.

Born into a Catholic family, Kroos's mother was a professional badminton player and his father was the academy coach at the local football club Hansa. Tony's first coach was also his father Roland. Kroos played the best football in school as a child. Due to his good play, he got a chance in the youth team of the local German club Greifswald in 1998 when he was only 7 years old. He played for the club until 2002. That same year, Kroos caught the eye of Hansa Rostock, a member of the German third division back then. When club officials contacted Kroos, Kroos's family and Kroos agreed. Kroos footballing life was also initiated at this club. From here Kroos made himself to what he is today. After spending four years there, Kroos came to the attention of Bayern Munich, the best team in the Bundesliga. Kroos couldn't believe himself at first when he heard of Bayern's interest in Kroos in a 2006 mail from Bayern Munich to his club Hansa Rostock. Neither Kroos nor his family had the courage to turn down an offer from the club he had dreamed of playing for since childhood. That's why Kroos and his family didn't think twice about accepting Bayern's offer. In the beginning, Kroos played for Bayern's 'B' team. Kroos made his debut for Bayern Munich in the 2006-07 season as the youngest footballer (18 years, 285 days). Kroos announced his arrival to the football world with two assists in his debut match for Bayern. On January 1, 2009, Kroos joined Bayer Leverkusen from Bayern on loan for 18 months. There he scored 1 goal in 13 games for Leverkusen in the first season. Kroos made his breakthrough the next season. In that season, Kroos made the headlines in the Bundesliga with 5 goals and 4 assists between the matchdays 16-20. For two consecutive months he was named Bundesliga Player of the Month. Tony Kroos finished the season with 9 goals and 12 assists in 33 league games that season. Tony Kroos returned to Bayern Munich at the start of the 2010-11 season.

Yeah they actually called him back before those 18 months are done. Can't blame them. The firery performance at Leverkusen was enough to impress anyone. In the 2011-12 season, he continued to play regularly for Bayern under his former mentor Heynckes. And he formed a formidable midfield with Bastian Schweinsteiger. However, Bayern had to end the season without winning any titles. After losing the league trophy to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, they lost to Chelsea in penalties in the Champions League final and became runners-up. Toni Kroos was on the field from the start in the final. In the 83rd minute, Thomas Muller put Bayern ahead with a header from Tony Kroos's cross. After overcoming the disappointment of that season, Kroos and his team Bayern started a new venture in the 2012-13 season. As a result Bayern won the treble of the season. But he was unable to contribute to the treble victory as he was ruled out of the field midway through the season due to injury. Although Kroos could not play in the Champions League final due to injury, his first Champions League trophy was added to his cabinet. Toni returned from injury in the 2013-14 season and played in the UEFA Super Cup and the German Super Cup. Despite being eliminated from the Champions League that season, Bayern Munich won the league title.

Toni Kroos left Bayern in the transfer window of the 2014-15 season. There are surprising stories behind his leaving the team. The Bayern president said: "Kroos is not a world class player, so we can't pay him more than 10 million a year." On hearing this, he may have decided that day that he would no longer be in Bayern. Pep Guardiola was the coach of Bayern at that time. Pep failed in all his attempts to retain Kroos Then on July 17, 2014, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez signed Toni Kroos for just 25 million euros.

This transfer went down as one of the biggest steals in modern football history. We all know what happened afterwards, everyone knows, so I just tried to cover the things that everyone don't know. Lastly, Happy Birthday Toni Kroos!