Miroslav Klose is
the most familiar name in modern German Football. Those who have seen
(any of) the last three world cups do not need a separate introduction
of this goalscoring machine. The striker has been on the pinnacle of the
German football for more than a decade now and was arguably the best
striker of the last decade on the international level. He has the
ability to score goals from almost any position. Although he is a
right-footed player, he can score fantastic goals from left foot also,
his powerful headers seem to burst the net. He doesn’t need a second
touch to score a goal and can improvise from any situation to put the
ball in the net. He is the ultimate predator. And who can forget his
somersault celebrations? His different styles of flips are one more
reason why he is favourite among the fans. The coaching staff of the
German National team surely understand his importance to the team. Even
when he is out of form, he is always included in the team, because when
he wears the German colours, he will score goals.
Miroslav Klose
Klose
comes from a sporting family. His mother, Barbara Jeż, was a member of
Poland’s National Handball team, while his father, Josef Klose, was a
professional footballer. He began his professional career at FC Homburg
and played his club football at Homburg, Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen
and Bayern Munich, before leaving for Lazio last summer (2011). But it
is not the club football that made him so famous. It is the
international matches, especially the big competitions, that put him in
the limelight. He has scored 14 goals in three World Cups finals, and he
is tied with fellow German Legend Gerd Muller and just 1 goal behind
Ronaldo in the all time WC goalscorers list. Klose is also the only
player to have scored five or more goals in consecutive World Cups, as
well as the only player to have scored at least four in three different
tournaments. This is enough to make him a Legend. In 2001, he made a
statement that in 10 years he would be the best German goal-scorer of
all times. Well, he came very Klose to that. He is now just 5 goals
behind Gerd Muller with a tally of 63 goals in 113 appearances.
Although
sometimes regarded as a player whose success comes to full fruition
more for country than club, Klose’s Bundesliga career was one of great
accomplishment also. Playing for FC Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and
Bayern Munich, Klose scored 126 goals in 316 league appearances, adding
another 27 goals in European competition and 21 in Cup contests. He has
scored an average of 0.40 goals per game, which is nearly equal to
Raul’s tally of 0.41. But the pundits and critics always overlook this.
Another
most important attribute of the German is his honesty and love of
football. Klose is well known among his fellow players as being just and
fair in his play (Which is hardly found in other players these days).
He is never in the news for the wrong reasons. Even when he was not
getting a regular first team action at Bayern recently, he never made a
fuss about it publicly. Because of a series of injuries and the rise of
Mario Gomez meant that Klose would be a second choice. Bayern were ready
to offer him a year’s contract, but he wanted two years. Unfortunately
no agreement was reached between the two and Klose was available in the
transfer market. He received many lucrative offers from the Russian
clubs but he turned them down and signed for Lazio in Italy. In today’s
world where players change their loyalties for an increment, Klose
certainly stood out as an exception. He is already back in form with 8
goals in 13 matches for Lazio and going strong! He is sure to play in
the Euro ‘12 and is hoping to stay fit for the FIFA WC 2014 after which
he wishes to hang his boots.
Here is an interesting fact
about the right-footed striker: While playing with Werder Bremen he
appeared to be fouled by the Bielefeld goalkeeper and given a penalty
kick. Klose knowing he had not been fouled let the referee know and the
call was revoked. He is admired by his fellow players for this. Could
you possible picture Ronaldo or Messi doing the same? I don’t think so.
Such gentlemen are hard to find in modern times. I wish him all the best for his future at Lazio and I hope he will shine again in the club football and will continue to entertain us with his trademark somersaults.
