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Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos says that he and teammate Cristiano Ronaldo joining the select group of players who have won three Club World Cup titles would be "special" should his side win this year's tournament in Japan. Kroos was part of the Bayern Munich team which overcame Raja Casablanca in the 2013 CWC final, while Ronaldo lifted the trophy with Manchester United in 2008, and both men featured in 2014 when Los Blancos beat San Lorenzo in the decider. The only players to have previously won the trophy three times are Barcelona's Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets, along with their former teammate Dani Alves. And the Germany international told FIFA.com that he was looking forward to the chance to be successful at the tournament again. "Individual achievements are not important for me, to be honest," Kroos said. "But when you go to a tournament all you want to do is win it, so lifting this title for a third time would be special for me. "It also means that I've won the Champions League three times. I'm really looking forward to the tournament. You don't get to play a lot of games against teams like these, and it's really interesting to take on sides who play very different types of football and who you're not used to playing. I've really good memories of previous tournaments." No team has yet managed to win the Club World Cup and then follow that by retaining the Champions League at the end of the same season, with Madrid's 2014-15 campaign going off the rails soon after their return home following their last appearance in the tournament, something club captain Sergio Ramos has already warned against letting happen again. Kroos accepted that the travel involved and timing of the tournament were a challenge, however he said that Madrid were taking the competition seriously. "It's a long trip and it won't be easy to acclimatise," he said. "We have a lot of matches at this time of year and it'll be tough. It's a tournament that we take very seriously, though. We're up against the champions of the world's other confederations and it won't be easy. It never is."
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