Poker, prostitutes and poor form: The big issue between Max Kruse and Jogi Löw

Former German national player Max Kruse has leveled some scratching criticism at the former national coach Joachim "Jogi" Löw over his non-selection for the 2014 World Cup. But Jogi isn't taking it all sitting down...

Max Kruse, born in Reinbek in 1988, started his football career at Werder Bremen.

Kruse (photo 2nd from left below) was called up to the senior national team squad by Jogi Löw for the first time in 2013 and played his first international match against Ecuador.

But that's where things apparently started to turn sour between Kruse and Löw...

Kruse complained that he was not selected for the national team at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, as German newspaper Die Welt reported.

He has accused Löw and the then-manager of the national team, Oliver Bierhoff, of being hypocritical and misleading him about his place in the side.

In an interview with Bild Sport magazine, Löw defended himself against the allegations and said: "We wanted to become world champions in football – and not in poker!"

To understand Löw's statement, you have to know the background – and know that Kruse was also active as a poker player from 2014.

And this apparently led to his downfall in the national team too... Three days before the international match in London 2013, Kruse was reportedly caught in his hotel room with a "female visitor".

Kruse himself commented on the incident in the podcast “Flatterball,” as Die Welt reports. He said he had spent most of the night playing poker and "being the way I am, I come up with stupid ideas" and "ordered a lady" to his room at 11 p.m....

However, the fun only lasted for a short time because suddenly there was a knock on the door and Oliver Bierhoff (photo left) and assistant coach Hansi Flick (photo right) were there to meet him.

According to Kruse, Bierhoff said that he should send the woman home and that they would talk “about the rest” tomorrow. Kruse expected to be sent home...

However, he was instead given a second chance. Against England, he was on the pitch until the 54th minute – and he was not there at the 2014 World Cup.

Kruse used the word "hypocritical" in this context – after all, he had just been called in to have his official photo taken as part of the 30-man World Cup squad.

Löw, on the other hand, has now announced that the incident in the hotel was not the only one of its kind. But it was not the reason why Kruse was left out of the 2014 World Cup.

Instead, Löw speaks plainly: "The truth is: He simply wasn't good enough. Max would have had good quality as a player, but Max would sometimes have been better off in the Uwe Seeler traditional team because the pace simply changed his dynamics in the game were also a bit too little."

And the ex-national coach continued: “The reasons were performance-related. Not what happened in the hotel.”

As Die Welt writes, Kruse was given further opportunities with Jogi Löw after the 2014 World Cup, but he did not take advantage of them.

Poker may not have brought Kruse any luck back then, but he seems to be having more success with it today. In 2022, Kruse won a bracelet at the World Series of Poker Europe.