Felix Kroos

Felix Kroos
in the jersey of Union Berlin (2016)
Personnel
birthday	March 12, 1991
place of birth	Greifswald ,  Germany
size	184 cm
position	Defensive midfield , defense
Juniors
Years	station
1997-2002	Greifswalder SC
2002-2008	Hansa Rostock
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2008-2010	Hansa Rostock II	026 0(4)
2009-2010	Hansa Rostock	027 0(0)
2010-2013	Werder Bremen II	067 (11)
2010-2016	Werder Bremen	065 0(1)
2016–	1. FC Union Berlin	110 0(7)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
2006-2007	Germany U16	8 0(6)
2007-2008	Germany U17	10 0(6)
2008-2009	Germany U18	10 0(6)
2009	Germany U19	6 0(2)
2011	Germany U21	1 0(0)
1 Only league games are given. As of June 27, 2020

Felix Kroos (born March 12, 1991 in Greifswald ) is a German football player who is used both in defensive midfield and in defense. The 35-time junior international played for Hansa Rostock in the 2nd Bundesliga and for Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga . He has been playing for 1. FC Union Berlin since the 2016/17 season .

Career

Childhood and youth in Greifswald and Rostock

Felix Kroos was born in Greifswald as the son of Birgit Kroos, who was GDR badminton champion under her maiden name Birgit Kämmer . There he grew up together with his 14 months older brother, who later became national player Toni Kroos , in the Schönwalde district. The brothers learned to play football from 1997 at Greifswalder SC , where their father Roland worked as a youth coach in the club. When his father switched to Hansa Rostock as a youth coach in 2002 , his sons also went to Rostock . They went through the youth teams of Hansa Rostock and attended the CJD Christophorus School . In 2009 Felix Kroos finished his school career there with a technical diploma .

Felix recommended himself through Hansa's youth teams for missions in the German U16 team , for which he scored six goals in eight games from 2006 to 2007. From 2007 to 2008 he played ten games in the German U17 team , in which he again scored six goals, which aroused the interest of FC Bayern (his brother Toni had already moved to Bayern in 2006). However, Kroos initially signed an amateur contract with FC Hansa until 2011.

For Rostock, Kroos had already played as a C-youth in the B-youth regional league from spring 2006 , before he also played in the B-youth, which his father had trained, from the 2006/07 season. For the following season 2007/08 , the B-youth regional leagues were reformed and the B-junior Bundesliga introduced, in which Kroos scored 13 goals in 11 games in the first half of the first season. As a result, he moved up to the A-youth coached by Gerald Dorbritz during the first half of the season and scored three goals in twelve appearances for them in the 2007/08 season of the A-Junior Bundesliga , while occasionally he was again in the B-Junior Bundesliga was called up. He was honored as Talent of the Year 2007 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the annual survey of the Ostsee-Zeitung .

Beginnings in professional football at Hansa Rostock

During the 2008/09 season of the A-Junioren-Bundesliga, Kroos was initially part of the A-Jugend von Hansa coached by Michael Hartmann and scored three goals in five appearances at the start of the season. In October 2008 he moved up to the second representative of FC Hansa in the men's division, who played under coach Thomas Finck in the regional league , and also took part in the training of the first team under Frank Pagelsdorf , who also used him in friendlies. Then Kroos gave on October 18 of the Regionalliga season 2008/09 against Lübeck his debut for Rostock's reserve team, for which he scored his first competitive goal on December 6 of the same season against Altona . In November he was also promoted to the German U18 team, for which he subsequently scored a total of six goals in ten missions.

At the beginning of 2009, Kroos finally completed the preparation for the second half of the season with the first team, now supervised by Dieter Eilts , for whom he played against Wolfsburg on January 28 in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup 2008/09 and on February 1 in the second half of the 2008/09 season against Duisburg came with substitutions for his first two competitive appearances. Although Rostock lost both games, the only 17-year-old Kroos was then considered a beacon of hope at FC Hansa, which was in danger of relegation. Although Eilts still attested to deficits in the areas of speed and robustness, the latter remarked about Kroos' style of play:

"Like his brother Toni, Felix is ​​an exceptional player: ball-safe, creative, with a lot of urge to score."

- Dieter Eilts : Welt.de

Competitive games for Hansa Rostock

season	league	League games (goals)	Cup games (goals)	Relegation (goals)
2008/09 2008/09	IV II	08 (1) 16 (0)	- 1 (0)	- -
2009/10 2009/10	IV II	18 (3) 11 (0)	- 0 (0)	- 1 (0)

Then Kroos von Eilts was appointed to the starting line-up in the four subsequent second division games, but could not influence them sustainably and was replaced in each case. Under coach Andreas Zachhuber , who was appointed as Eilts' successor at the beginning of March 2009 , Kroos was mostly only used as a substitute in the attack, but was involved in a total of 17 of the 18 second round competitive games, at the end of which Hansa took 13th place in the final table Relegation achieved. For his achievements, Kroos was then awarded the Fritz Walter Medal of his year in bronze, awarded by the DFB to young players, on September 9, 2009 .

On September 5, 2009, Kroos made his debut for the U19 national team , for which he scored a total of two goals in six games by winter. At the club, however, he was only used five times as a substitute during the first half of the 2009/10 second division season and played increasingly on the reserve team again. Also in the second half of the season Kroos played only a minor role in the professional team and was used by Zachhuber three times as a substitute and once on the starting line-up. When FC Hansa, now again in danger of relegation, appointed Thomas Finck and Marco Kostmann as their new coaching team in February 2010 , Kroos initially made two more substitutions, but was no longer considered for the rest of the season and played exclusively for the Hanseatic reserve team, to keep them from relegation he was involved in the Regionalliga season 2009/10 with a total of three goals in eighteen missions. The professional team, however, finished 16th in their final table, which meant they had to compete in two relegation games against Ingolstadt to stay in the second Bundesliga, with Kroos playing for Rostock's first team for the last time in the first leg. As a result, the kicker sports magazine spread even before the second relegation game, as a result of which Hansa was relegated to the third division , Kroos' move to SV Werder Bremen . Four weeks later, Werder officially announced the change, and FC Hansa received a transfer payment of 238,000 euros in return. Kroos subsequently confirmed that he would have left the club even if Rostock had been relegated after he had been used in 29 competitive games of the professional team within 17 months and only had one assist.

Kroos had lost his place in the U19 national team in the course of the second half of the season to players such as Peniel Mlapa , Marco Terrazzino and Cenk Tosun , so that he had not made any further appearances for them and only nominated for the U20 selection from summer 2010 onwards has been.

Bundesliga player at Werder Bremen

Kroos in Bremen team training (2010)

In Bremen , Kroos, who signed a contract until 2013, was initially assigned to the reserve team trained by Thomas Wolter , which played in the third division as a direct competitor to Hansa in the 2010/11 season . However, in the preparation for the season he should also get the chance to recommend himself for Bremen's Bundesliga team under coach Thomas Schaaf , for whom he mostly played as a midfielder in friendly matches and celebrated his first goals.

Competitive games for Werder Bremen

season	league	League games (goals)	Cup games (goals)	European Cup (goals)
2010/11 2010/11	III I	21 (6) 05 (0)	- 0 (0)	- 1 (0)
2011/12 2011/12	III I	25 (4) 01 (0)	- 0 (0)	- -
2012/13 2012/13	IV I	21 (1) 05 (0)	- 0 (0)	- -
2013/14	I.	20 (1)	0 (0)	-
2014/15	I.	25 (0)	3 (0)	-

Due to injury, Kroos only played his first competitive game on the seventh matchday of the third division, which was played on September 11, 2010, for Werder's reserve. He also scored his first competitive goal with a penalty in his team's 3-0 win against Stuttgart II . However, this victory should remain the only one of the Bremen U23s in the first third of the season, so that the team emerged as a relegation candidate early on. In the game against Burghausen on the tenth match day, Kroos was even sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct and banned for the following two match days. Nevertheless, Schaaf then nominated him for the first time for the squad of the professional team - in the Champions League game against Milan on September 29, 2010, however, Kroos did not get beyond the reserve role. After his suspension had expired, Kroos also sat on the bench of the professionals on the eighth match day of the 2010/11 Bundesliga season in the game against Freiburg in mid-October , but was again not used and was back in the starting line-up of the reserve team in the third division the following weekends.

When nine players of the professional team were absent due to injury a month later, Kroos was nominated as one of eight players on the reserve team for the Champions League game against Tottenham on November 24, 2010. Although Kroos was on the Bremen starting line-up as a right midfielder, he was unable to sustainably influence the 3-0 defeat of his team, which meant Werder's departure from the competition, and was replaced in the 55th minute of the game. While the talents Lennart Thy and Onur Ayık, who were also used in this game, soon returned to the reserve team, Kroos stayed in the first team and played four days later in Bremen's 3-0 win against St. Pauli for the first time in the Bundesliga. Although he only occupied the reserve bench in the following games, Kroos ousted national player Marko Marin from the Bremen starting lineup after the winter break by taking his position in the left midfield in the first two games of the second half of the season. As a result, Kroos again moved into the focus of the DFB and was nominated by Rainer Adrion for the game of the U21 selection against Greece in early February 2011, although he was still eligible to play for the U20s, and was substituted on in the final phase of the game. In the club, however, Kroos initially lost his place in Bremen's starting line-up to Marin, only to play for Werder's reserve from mid-February. At the end of the season he finally finished 19th in the final table and thus a relegation place, while Bremen's professional team, which had originally targeted the qualification for the European Cup, at least achieved relegation with the 13th place in the Bundesliga. Subsequently, however, Bremen benefited from financial bottlenecks of some third division clubs that could not continue playing in this division, so that the Bremen reserve team remained in their league.

Also in the following season 2011/12 Kroos was mainly used in the Bremen U23, which again played against relegation. His only appearance in the professional team was on matchday 26, when he was substituted on in the 76th minute in the 0-1 defeat against Borussia Dortmund . On the 32nd matchday he was considered a candidate for the starting line-up in the game against Bayern Munich after numerous Bremen players were injured or suspended. Before the game, however, he complained of malaise and was hospitalized. There he had to be operated on because an artery leading to the spleen had been damaged. Kroos was out for the rest of the season.

On the 29th matchday of the 2012/13 season he had his first appearance of the season in a 2-2 draw at Fortuna Düsseldorf and was substituted for Eljero Elia in the 63rd minute . In May 2013 Felix Kroos extended his contract for another two years until June 30, 2015.

For the new 2013/14 season he established himself as a regular player in defensive midfield under the new coach Robin Dutt ; he was used in twelve of the first 13 games and was substituted three times and four times. On November 9, 2013 (12th matchday) he scored his first Bundesliga goal in the 1: 3 defeat in the away game against FC Schalke 04 with the goal of the interim 1: 0 in the 22nd minute. On November 24, 2013 Kroos suffered a torn knee ligament in the 3-2 defeat against 1. FSV Mainz 05 , which is why he was out for the rest of the series.

Competitive games for Union Berlin

season	league	League games (goals)	Cup games (goals)	Relegation (goals)
2015/16	II	12 (2)	-	-
2016/17	II	29 (2)	1 (0)	-
2017/18	II	29 (1)	1 (0)	-
2018/19	II	25 (2)	1 (1)	1 (0)

Kroos at Union Berlin

On January 28, 2016, Kroos moved to the 2nd Bundesliga for 1. FC Union Berlin on loan until the end of the 2015/16 season . For the 2016/17 season , Kroos was finally committed and given a contract until June 30, 2019. In the 2018/19 season he rose from the 2nd Bundesliga to the 1st Bundesliga with Union Berlin . In June 2019, his contract was extended for another year.

Awards

• Winner of the Fritz Walter Medal 2009 in bronze (third best young player U18)

Web links

Commons : Felix Kroos  - Collection of Images

• Felix Kroos in the database of the German Football Association
• Felix Kroos in the database of weltfussball.de
• Felix Kroos in the database of transfermarkt.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bild.de , December 8, 2008: Finally! Eilts makes Kroos (17) a professional , accessed on March 1, 2011
2. ↑ Focus.de , March 7, 2008: Talent Felix Kroos is loyal to Hansa Rostock , accessed on March 1, 2011
3. ↑ FC-Hansa.de, January 18, 2008: Hanseaten three times victorious at the OZ sports honor , accessed on March 1, 2011
4. ↑ FC-Hansa.de, October 11, 2008: 18: 0 peat festival at VfL Bergen 94 , accessed on March 1, 2011
5. ↑ ^{a b} Welt.de , February 4, 2009: Super talent: Toni Kroos' little brother is supposed to save Rostock , accessed on March 1, 2011
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Kicker.de : Felix Kroos and Fussballdaten.de: Felix Kroos , accessed on June 4, 2019
7. ↑ fussball.de, May 17, 2010: Werder sign Felix Kroos , accessed on March 1, 2011
8. ↑ FC-Hansa.de, July 11, 2011: securities prospectus ( Memento of June 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 7.6 MB), p. 180, accessed on July 21, 2011
9. ↑ Ostsee-Zeitung.de , December 9, 2010: Kroos defends farewell to Hansa ( memento from September 9, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on March 1, 2011
10. ↑ Werder.de, June 15, 2010: New entry: Felix Kroos switches to Werder ( Memento from December 12, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 1, 2011
11. ↑ Werder.de, July 13, 2010: First test game: Werder beats Ailton's Uerdinger 6: 1 ( Memento from December 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 1, 2011
12. ↑ Kicker.de , November 23, 2010: Kroos and Schmidt before debut , accessed on March 1, 2011
13. ↑ Carsten Sander and Malte Rehnert: Schaaf admits: “Actually we don't have a chance” . District newspaper Syke, April 18, 2012
14. ↑ Malte Rehnert: Spleen operation at Kroos . District newspaper Syke, April 25, 2012
15. ↑ Björn Knips: Kroos - the career was at stake . District newspaper Syke, July 7, 2012
16. ↑ werder.de: Felix Kroos will stay in Werder until 2015 ( memento from November 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), May 13, 2013
17. ↑ Werder Bremen: Kroos changes to Union Berlin on loan ( Memento from January 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), January 28, 2016, accessed on January 28, 2016.
18. ↑ 1. FC Union Berlin: THREE-YEAR CONTRACT: 1. FC UNION BERLIN OBLIGATES FELIX KROOS FROM SV WERDER BREMEN , June 13, 2017, accessed on June 17, 2016.
19. ↑ Kroos renews at Union Berlin - Still interested in St. Gallen's Quintillà? In: transfermarkt.de on June 19, 2019, accessed on June 19, 2019.