Toni Kroos couldn't help himself. The former Real Madrid star aimed scathing criticism at Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Aleksandar Pavlovic during a discussion about coach Jürgen Klopp's squad list, which he will reveal tomorrow, Thursday.
On the "Einfach Mal Luppen" podcast, which he co-hosts with his brother Felix, the 2014 World Cup winner joked about the players who might appear on the upcoming UEFA Nations League list. The challenge: name three players who did not take part in the last World Cup.
Kroos surprised everyone with a sarcastic response, according to the newspaper "AS": "I have named three players who did not take part in the World Cup: Pavlovic, Wirtz and Musiala."
All three had in fact featured for Germany at the tournament. Felix took a few seconds to grasp the hint before replying: "What? What? In which World Cup did they not take part?" he asked, before absorbing the joke: "Because they weren't noticed, or what?".
The dig alluded to the lacklustre showing of the trio at the tournament, where Germany crashed out in the round of 32 at the hands of Paraguay.
Kroos then named three players who actually met his brother's conditions, and whom he would like to see on Klopp's first list: Tom Bischof and Lennart Karl, both from Bayern Munich, and Said El Mala, the rising star from Cologne.
Felix Kroos, for his part, chose Jan-Aurel Bisseck, Kevin Schade and Grischa Prömel.
Germany will soon play four UEFA Nations League matches against the Netherlands, Greece (twice) and Serbia.
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