Germany head coach Joachim Low has batted away talk of world-class Toni Kroos retiring from international football after this year s European Championship.
Real Madrid midfielder Kroos withdrew from the Germany squad at the start of last week, ahead of their opening World Cup qualifying fixtures.
Low s side claimed maximum points from their first two Group J games against Iceland and Romania and will expect to make it a hat-trick of triumphs when North Macedonia visit Duisburg on Wednesday.
Kroos is Die Mannschaft s most-capped active player – and joint 10th overall – having featured 101 times since his Germany debut in 2010.
His last appearance was in November s humiliating 6-0 Nations League defeat to Spain, although he did emerge with some credit.
Kroos enjoyed a pass completion rate of 97.7 per cent – the highest of any starting player across both sides – while no German starter lost possession fewer times than him (four).
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Reports have circulated recently that 31-year-old Kroos is ready to call time on his international career after the rearranged Euro 2020 finals, but Low is not ready to write off the midfielder just yet.
It s a media issue, Low told a media conference. Toni is a world-class player with an enormous wealth of experience. We won t start to doubt his quality now.
Low also hailed the step forward made by Leroy Sane over the past week.
The Bayern Munich forward made three key passes against Romania – matched only by Serge Gnabry for Germany – and won 11 of his 12 duels.
Low was particularly impressed with the 25-year-old s defensive contributions.
In the last two games Leroy had extremely good moments in defence, Low said. He won four or five balls against Romania and some against Iceland.
You haven t seen that before. He made a clear step forward.
Germany are red-hot favourites to progress to Qatar 2022 as Group J winners, but Low has warned his players against complacency when they host North Macedonia.
I have the feeling that North Macedonia have rolled up their sleeves , said Low, who will step down from his position at the end of Euro 2020. They are no worse than Romania. It will be a real show of strength.
We re not taking anything for granted. North Macedonia are shrewd opponents. It will be another tricky task to come away with all three points.
