FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP CHILE 2015 | Page 96

30 años... de china a chile El volante fue una de las figuras del equipo campeón en Brasil 2014. The midfielder was one of the leading figures of the champion team in Brazil 2014. “Una Copa Mundial Sub-17 de la FIFA es una etapa especial donde se puede competir con los mejores”. “A FIFA U-17 World Cup is a special stage where you can compete with the best”. 96 Fifa u-17 World Cup T oni Kroos embodies perfectly what a FIFA U-17 World Cup can mean to a player in its development stage. Eight years ago, long before he was the consolidated player of today, midfielder played in South Korea a tournament in which his first major explosion would occur. On that occasion, although Germany could not stay with the crown and could only get the third place, Kroos was chosen as the best player of the competition, answering to all the expectations that were over him, which in fact, made him be catalogued in his country and in Europe as the new “wunderkid” of local football. He played six games with the “Mannschaft”, scoring five goals. Before the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup, people talked about you as a “wunderkind” of German football. How can that influence a player of only 16 years? How do you handle that pressure? “ I was used to those high expectations since I started playing football, at the time I was playing for the Bayern Munich and I have played two European championships with the national team. I didn´t listen very much to what other said and I centred in my objectives with the team. Yo have to work hard and believe in yourself, that is the most important point”. A motivation Just a few months before playing the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the talented young German midfielder has had the possibility of adding an enormous experience, that without a doubt, will help him for the challenge with the National Team in Korea: he was able to play some friendly duels with the first team of the Bayern that