"All these moralists": Toni and Felix Kroos appeal for understanding for Rüdiger

In the Copa del Rey final, Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger lost his temper. The German footballer's behavior drew worldwide criticism. Calls for his expulsion from the national team were heard. Former footballers Toni and Felix Kroos consider this excessive.

After his outburst in the Spanish Cup final, national player Antonio Rüdiger is receiving support from his former Real Madrid teammate Toni Kroos and his brother Felix. "He'll get his punishment, it will be justified. But we still don't have to act as if he killed someone," said Toni Kroos on the sidelines of an Icon League event in Düsseldorf: "You always have to be a bit careful not to just go with the flow."

The 35-year-old Kroos, according to his own statement, also had contact with Rüdiger after the game. "I think the pictures speak for themselves that this was a big mistake. He knows that, he's aware of it," said the long-time Real Madrid player, who played for Madrid until last year.

Shortly before the end of extra time in the cup final against FC Barcelona (2:3) this weekend, Rüdiger insulted the referee and threw an object at him. The defender, who had already been substituted a few minutes earlier, received a red card and apologized the next day. Discussions are already underway about whether Rüdiger should also face consequences for his behavior within the German national team.

Toni Kroos doesn't approve of this at all. "The people who come out of the woodwork again – and demand exclusion from the national team and so on. Above all, some of them, let's put it this way, probably should have been banned from time to time back then," said the former Bayern Munich player.

Felix Kroos expressed similar sentiments. "There's no question that he made a big mistake and clearly overdid it in the cup final in Spain," the former Werder Bremen and Union Berlin player wrote in an Instagram story. "But all these moralists who are now calling for him to be expelled from the national team and other wild punishments are really getting on my nerves!"

Felix Kroos told ntv: "I have to put a player who has performed well in the past and who will also be important in the future on the right path so that he can continue to perform well and also behave sensibly off the pitch." Canceling Rüdiger and firing him now is not the right approach.

Other former international players, such as Lothar Matthäus and Dietmar Hamann, had sharply criticized Rüdiger's outburst. Rudi Völler, the sporting director of the German national football team, said of the incident: "That's unacceptable. Especially not as a German international. He has to change that, and he knows it himself, as his public reaction shows."