Even a few days after breaking off the interview, Toni Kroos cannot forget. In his podcast he goes back to his dispute with ZDF reporter Nils Kaben and accuses him of lacking empathy. But the 2014 world champion has nothing against critical questions, he claims.
Toni Kroos defended his reaction in the much-discussed live interview right after the Champions League triumph with Real Madrid. "I have to say that my opinion hasn't changed there, even without emotions," said the midfielder in his podcast "Einfach mal Luppen": "I found the approach far too little empathetic in such a special moment. That's in the emotional moment didn't go down well with me."
The 2014 world champion emphasized that he also reflected on himself afterwards. "Maybe the word 'shit question' could have been left out," said Kroos, adding jokingly: "You could have left it at 'dirty question'."
After the final victory in Paris against Liverpool, the real professional had broken off a ZDF interview after just 45 seconds. "You had 90 minutes to think about sensible questions, then you ask me two shitty questions - that's crazy," he replied to the puzzled ZDF reporter Nils Kaben. He had asked why Real was in such distress.
Kroos explained his emotional reaction with the feelings of happiness immediately after the triumph. Just a few minutes before the interview, he was lying on the pitch with team-mate Luka Modrić, "and we almost pissed ourselves with luck," said Kroos. There would have been a chance for an emotional interview that was very rare for him, "and then ruining it like that with a second and third question, I just couldn't understand it."
In general, he has nothing against critical questions, emphasized the five-time Champions League winner. "I don't expect to be celebrated by the reporter for three minutes either," he said, "because if I had wanted to be celebrated, I would have walked past my colleague, the Real Madrid fan curve was 50 meters away." For him, this matter is just "an extremely small bracket in an incredibly big story".
