Euphoria brake?

Kroos brother Felix criticizes ARD for reporting

Felix Kroos, here in the Union Berlin kit in 2020

(Bild: AP)

Felix Kroos is unhappy with ARD. After Germany's 1:1 against Switzerland and the resulting group win, Toni Kroos' brother complained on Twitter that the broadcaster was putting the brakes on the euphoria. ARD is probably only partly to blame.

The "ARD people" were "putting the brakes on the euphoria" after the game, Felix wrote that evening: "I wouldn't want to let that happen. I'm enjoying it all."

Esther and Basti too critical?
He left unanswered who or what he was referring to specifically. We can speculate. Possibly ARD presenter Esther Sedlaczek and her expert Bastian Schweinsteiger. In the post-match review, the two said that they had "not seen the best game" of the DFB team, but also claimed a "well-deserved point".

Interviewer too cheeky?
More likely: the way a TV lady conducted the interview with his brother Toni. The reporter was actually quite brash in her approach. She opened the interview as follows: "Just before the end, we actually won the group perfectly. But that can't mean the visible improvement in performance that was supposed to come in the third group game, can it?"

Toni Kroos

(Bild: AFP/APA/Tobias SCHWARZ)

"The others as well"
Kroos remained cool, downright charming and reacted smartly - unlike after the 2022 Champions League final, for example. Reporter Anna Kraft - who conducted the interview for all broadcasting German-speaking TV stations, i.e. on behalf of UEFA and not exclusively for ARD - added: "But it was actually very difficult before the start. You had intensive Swiss support. Why did you find it so difficult at the start to bring your quality from the first two European Championship games onto the pitch?" And when Kroos mentioned the poor pitch conditions, the interviewer followed up: "It can't have been the pitch, the others played on it too."

And again, Kroos kept his cool, answered in a deeply relaxed manner and said goodbye in a friendly manner. Only his brother Felix was apparently not quite so relaxed.