National football team – Kroos started his second career – Sport

Cologne (dpa) – Toni Kroos has started his second career 58 days after his last appearance on the big football stage. The Icon League, founded by former national player and influencer Elias Nerlich, celebrated its premiere in Cologne. The first match day of the new indoor football league in the Lanxess Arena with teams consisting of ambitious amateur players and former professionals, was a meeting place for prominent football stars such as Franck Ribéry, Benjamin Henrichs and Simon Terodde as well as basketball world champion Dennis Schröder.

“It looks like a very good start.” “It’s something very special to be able to inspire people with an idea,” said retired footballer Kroos, proud of the great response in the sold-out arena with 20,000 spectators. For the first time since his last appearance in the European Championship quarter-finals for the DFB team against Spain on July 5, Kroos laced up his football boots again, at least for a few minutes.

Final in Munich

Similar to the competitive Baller League format, the Icon League, which is played in a small-field format, will make the game more attractive with new and surprising rules. 14 teams will fight for places in the final Final8 tournament in Munich on 13 match days until December. The games will be played indoors with five players per team on the field, and will be broadcast exclusively digitally.

“This is a huge project that we have been working on for a long time,” said Kroos. “The idea was to make football a little more interesting than it currently is. We don’t want to replace classic football, but rather offer football fans an option.”

© dpa-infocom, dpa:240902-930-220233/1