Real Madrid were fortunate to call upon Toni Kroos for a decade, said Los Blancos manager Carlo Ancelotti, after the Germany midfielder bade farewell to a sold-out Santiago Bernabeu.
Veteran Kroos played his final league game for Madrid on Saturday, with a goalless draw against Real Betis hardly befitting of his illustrious time with the LaLiga champions.
The 34-year-old will still have one more appearance to come for Los Blancos in next Saturday's Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium.
Yet having played for a final occasion at Madrid's storied home ground, Ancelotti was quick to praise Kroos.
"One of the greatest, obviously," Ancelotti told a press conference. "A very high-quality midfielder, with a fantastic character, with a small ego, very humble and always at the service of the team, very altruistic. What luck to have had him for 10 years.
"To do better than Kroos has done, in this team, is very complicated. He has made a very strong decision [to retire], because nobody could have imagined it, but he has shown a lot of character and to say goodbye like that is great.
"It is the farewell of a great football character and, I repeat, we have been lucky to have him here. Football has enjoyed a great player."
On his 306th LaLiga appearance, a tally bettered by only one other German (Bernd Schuster, with 316), Kroos bowed out in typical style, having the most touches (122), creating the most chances (three), playing the most passes (110) and completing the most passes (107) of any player on the pitch.
"I can only say thank you to all the Madridismo, to the club, to my team mates, to the stadium," Kroos told reporters after his Madrid farewell.
"I've always felt at home during these 10 years. I couldn't ask for more. They have been 10 unforgettable years.
"I was pretty strong until I saw my children, that moment killed me."
Kroos will end his playing days with the upcoming Euro 2024 tournament, where he will hope to guide hosts Germany to glory on home soil.
Kostic feared to have suffered ligament damage in Serbia's defeat to England
Serbia wing-back Filip Kostic is feared to have suffered ligament damage during his team's 1-0 defeat to England at Euro 2024, coach Dragan Stojkovic has revealed.
England made a winning start to their Group C campaign on Sunday as Jude Bellingham's early header was enough to decide a cagey game in Gelsenkirchen.
It was a challenge involving Bellingham that led to the end of Kostic's game, the Juventus man requiring treatment after falling awkwardly and being substituted after 43 minutes.
Serbia now face Slovenia and Denmark in their remaining group-stage games, but Kostic is a major doubt to continue at the tournament and could be set for a long spell on the sidelines.
"Kostic felt a strong pain in the outside part of his left knee and we fear that he could have ligament damage," Stojkovic said at his post-match press conference. "He will undergo medical tests on Monday, let's hope it's not as bad as it looks."
Though England held Serbia to just six shots (one on target) amounting to 0.18 expected goals (xG), Stojkovic felt his team deserved to take something from the match.
"We managed to corner the English team and I think we didn't deserve to lose," Stojkovic said.
"I told my players I was proud of their performance and about everything but the result. Now all we can do is to rest and get ready for what is probably the most important match of the group stage against Slovenia."
Euro 2024 social round-up: Bellingham's new celebration and Kane in the Haaland role?
Day three at Euro 2024 brought plenty of action.
Jude Bellingham was the main man for England as the Three Lions beat Serbia 1-0.
Earlier in the day, Denmark drew 1-1 with Slovenia, and the Netherlands came from behind to beat Poland.
But there was also plenty of action on social media, and not just on the pitch. Here, we round up the best posts from Euro 2024.
Wolfpack
Bellingham celebrated his goal for England with Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the pair debuted a new "wolf" celebration.
They embraced before they each got down on one knee and placed a hand over their face.
Explaining the celebration, Bellingham told BBC Sport: "When we play Wolf, one of the staff loves that face when he doesn't have a clue what's going on! So that was kind of, a little group celebration for the wolf crew!"
Man on a mission
Bellingham may have grabbed the headlines, but Declan Rice was vital for England in midfield.
Indeed, only Bellingham (92) had more touches than Rice (90), while the Arsenal man led the team for passes (81), accurate passes (78) and interceptions (two, along with Alexander-Arnold and Kyle Walker).
And the official England account made sure to give Rice some love.
Harry Haaland?
At half-time in the England match, pundit and former Three Lions defender Jamie Carragher posted on X that Harry Kane was "playing the Haaland role".
By that point, Kane had only touched the ball twice, and the captain would go on to finish with 24 touches, exactly half the amount of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who ranked 10th in that metric of the 11 England players to start the game.
Carragher suggested that, like Erling Haaland at Manchester City, Kane was being instructed to stay high and wait for the ball to come to him, though does not feel that role suited him.
Kane, who was making his record-breaking 23rd appearance for England at a major tournament, nearly scored in the second half, but saw a header saved onto the crossbar.
How to save a life
A genius idea in the fan zones in Germany, is that there are CPR training units set up, so that supporters can learn the basics if they need to act quickly.
UEFA broadcast this on their official account.
Eriksen's emotional Euros return
The need for CPR training is only hit home when thinking about Christian Eriksen.
June 12 marked the third anniversary of Eriksen collapsing on the pitch in Copenhagen, during Denmark's opening game of Euro 2020.
Thankfully, and due to the swift actions of the medical staff that day, Eriksen survived the cardiac arrest he suffered, and on Sunday, matters came full circle as the 32-year-old scored his nation's opening goal against Slovenia.
Dress sense
Some managers go for a tracksuit. Others go for a smart casual look. Plenty wear a suit.
Poland boss Michal Probierz falls into the latter category, but he made sure to stand out with his bold choice in Sunday's clash with the Dutch.
Probierz went for an eye-catching tweed waistcoat and a brown blazer, drawing the attention of the Men In Blazer's X account, and in turn, their post was picked up by Poland's official team account too.
What do you think of the look?
Memphis' new look
Speaking of making a statement, Memphis Depay is not exactly shy when it comes to what he wears.
And for Euro 2024, it would appear the Netherlands' forward has a new look, with the 30-year-old donning a headband.
It's usually a look reserved for basketball, not football, but Depay will do what Depay wants to do. Not that it greatly helped his performance levels. The former Manchester United attacker had four shots, but didn't get any of them on target.
Tadic tips 'hungry' Bellingham to win the Ballon d'Or
Jude Bellingham "has everything to win the next Ballon d'Or", Serbia skipper Dusan Tadic insisted after his side fell victim to England's star midfielder.
Bellingham was the hero with his first-half header ensuring Gareth Southgate's side got off to a winning start at Euro 2024, as they edged out the Eagles 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen.
The Real Madrid midfielder built on the momentum from his memorable debut season with Los Blancos, for whom he scored 23 goals and helped win LaLiga and the Champions League.
The second player after Michael Owen to score at the World Cup and European Championship before turning 21, he is also the first to do so for the Three Lions while playing his club football outside of England.
And Tadic, who appeared as a second-half substitute in Serbia's first match at the European Championship as a unified nation, paid tribute to the 20-year-old.
When asked whether he thought Bellingham was the difference in the Group C contest, the Eagles skipper told reporters: "Yes, definitely. I think he is a great player and a great personality. I think he has everything to win the next Ballon d'Or.
"I think everything that he did was great today, he showed personality, he took England to the next level. He was always asking for the ball and I think he had a great game.
"What I think is most important for such a young player is that he always takes responsibility. That is amazing to see, and you can see he is very hungry."
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