Toni Kroos apologises for injuring ‘great player’ Pedri in Germany defeat: ‘Not my intention’ | OneFootball

Toni Kroos has apologised for injuring Pedri in Germany’s Euro 2024 loss to Spain, insisting it was “not my intention”.

Pedri was forced off in the first few minutes of the quarter-final on Friday (5 July), having hit the turf after a foul from Kroos.

The latter avoided a booking for the tackle but received a yellow card later in the game, which Spain won in the final moments of extra time.

Pedri, 21, will not feature for Spain in their semi-final against Portugal or be fit for the final – should his nation qualify – while Kroos, 34, was playing his final ever match on Friday.

In an Instagram post on Saturday (6 July), the Germany midfielder wrote, “Very important to me: Apologies to @pedri and wishing you a good recovery!

“It was obviously not my intention to injure you. Swift recovery and all the best. You are a great player.”

Elsewhere in his post, Kroos said: “I didn’t expect us, in such a short space of time, to be able to have a realistic shot at winning the title and to get back on par with the best teams. For that reason, I’m so proud of what this team achieved.”

Pedri after a challenge by Toni Kroos early in the game (Getty Images)

Kroos reacts to Germany’s defeat by Spain (Getty Images)

Germany trailed Spain through a Dani Olmo goal, but the Euros hosts equalised in the 89th minute when Florian Wirtz scored. However, Mikel Merino struck in the 118th minute, as Spain triumphed in extra time to eliminate Julian Nagelsmann’s team.

It was the coach’s first tournament in charge of Germany, who were knocked out of the last two World Cups in the group stage and exited the previous Euros in the last 16.