Imagine calling time on your professional career - but finding the time to appear in the German district leagues just a year later
(Image credit: Boris Streubel/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Max Kruse was playing top-flight football for Wolfsburg as recently as 2022 and represented Germany at the 2021 Olympics.
But at age 36, the 14-cap former full international is now plying his trade down in the German regional leagues, representing Kreisliga A side BSV Al-Dersimspor II.
For those not intimately familiar with the German football pyramid, that's Step 9 of the German league. The equivalent of the English Counties League Premier Divisions, is where the likes of Tadcaster Albion, West Didsbury & Chorlton, Barnstaple Town and Tooting & Mitcham play.
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Max Kruse playing grassroots football after professional retirement
Kruse was a prolific top-level striker throughout his Bundesliga career, reaching double figures for Freiburg, Borussia Monchengladbach, Werder Bremen and Union Berlin.
The goalscoring playmaker was considered a tad unlucky not to have made it into the triumphant 2014 World Cup squad a decade ago, but was one of 16 Mannschaft players selected to be rendered in Lego form in 2016 alongside the likes of Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller.
At his peak, Kruse was a part of Germany's national setup around the time they won the World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)
Kruse can look by with pride on his playing career and now seems to be enjoying playing away from the spotlight.
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Kruse made his return to Wolfsburg in January 2022 and scored seven goals in 14 games for the out-of-form side to help them stay clear of the relegation zone, but departed later that year.
Kruse has done punditry and podcasting (Image credit: Getty Images)
After a short stint with second-tier Paderborn last year, Kruse announced his retirement from professional football
Kruse now co-hosts a podcast with former Werder Bremen teammate Martin Harnik, and has regularly appeared at big-money poker tournaments around the world since 2014.
Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
