Toni Kroos picks best teammate in each position from his career

Real Madrid star Toni Kroos has been asked to pick his favourite teammate in every position, trawling back through his glittering career to select a best goalkeeper, defender midfielder and forward he has played alongside for club or country.

Kroos has been one of the world’s leading midfielders for a decade and has played in World Cup and multiple Champions League winning teams. His task of narrowing things down to picking only one standout colleague in each position was therefore close to impossible.

“I prefer these four: In goal, Manuel Neuer, both as a teammate and as a rival. Best defence: Sergio Ramos. Midfielder: Luka Modric. And in attack, clearly: Cristiano [Ronaldo],” the 32-year-old said as part of #kroos90, a special interview with questions submitted by international celebrities.

Elaborating on midfield, Kroos said that Real’s trio of himself, Modric and Casemiro was closest to the ‘perfect’ combination he has experienced.

“I think the interaction with Modric and Casemiro has come relatively close to perfection,” he said.

“We had everything in our line: with Casemiro, one who had the clear task of sweeping the centre. And with Luka Modric and with me, two who do not run away from defensive tasks. In this way, we were very compact defensively.

“On the other hand, we were also synonymous with football, control and special moments up front. The coordination between defence and attack was pretty perfect. Also because over the years, each of us knew which spaces to play in and which ones to defend, we didn’t have to talk to each other much during the game and we went out on the pitch with that confidence.”

The trio spent seven years together once Casemiro established himself in the Real squad. But the Brazilian’s departure to Manchester United has now seen them broken up. Kroos himself is delaying a decision on his Real future, having previously hinted at a plan to retire in 2023.