Miroslav Klose life and biography

Miroslav Klose (born Mirosław Marian Kloze on 9 June 1978 in Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Poland) is a German association footballer who plays as a striker for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. He has a good scoring record in domestic football and an excellent goal-to-game ratio in international football. Since bursting onto the international stage at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he has become well-known for his knack of scoring headers and his front-flip goal celebration routine.

Born in Upper Silesia (Poland), Klose plays for the German national team. He is German by birth and qualified for selection by the German national team because of the German nationality of his father. He was the top scorer and thus the Golden Boot winner at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, with five goals. Klose also scored five goals in his debut World Cup, the 2002 World Cup hosted jointly by the Korea Republic and Japan, giving him a total of ten goals in World Cup finals. He is the first German player since the reunification of Germany to finish as the World Cup's top scorer, and the only player to have scored five or more goals in consecutive World Cups. Natural with the head, he was first team roster before injuries took him out of the team for a while, and during his rest Ivica Olic took over, impressing, and replaced Klose as Van Gaal's first team striker.

Miroslav Klose is a feared and vastly-experienced striker whose name is inextricably linked with the World Cup finals. A relative slow starter in the game, the Bayern Munich star made his Germany debut in 2001, but burst to prominence in the 2002 finals in Japan and South Korea, scoring five goals as Germany were defeated in the final by Brazil. Four years later, and on home turf, Klose took the world stage by storm once more as another five-goal haul earned him the Golden Boot award. With a strike-rate around the 50% mark and approaching 100 caps, Klose is a formidable asset for Joachim Low.

After spells with SG Blaubach-Diedelkopf and FC Homburg, as well as a time spent as a carpenter, the Polish-born striker joined Kaiserslautern in 1999 at the age of 22. Following his star turn at the 2002 World Cup, Klose played a further two seasons for Kaiserslautern before joining Werder Bremen for ¬5 million in the summer of 2004 and excelled for his new club - most notably in the 2005-06 season when he scored a remarkable 25 goals in 26 Bundesliga games, winning the German Player of the Year award before impressing once more on the global stage.

In 2007, Klose continued his upwards trajectory and joined Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee as the giants embarked on an ambitious spending spree, recruiting the likes of Luca Toni and Franck Ribery despite failing to qualify for the Champions League. In his first season he won a domestic Double and in his second, scored an impressive seven goals in eight Champions League games. After scoring another seven goals in eight World Cup qualifiers, Klose approaches the 2010 finals with an outside chance of surpassing Brazil's Ronaldo (15) as the all-time top scorer in World Cup final tournaments.

Strengths: His performances at the 2002 World Cup demonstrated his potency in aerial situations, but Klose is also a fine finisher with his feet and a born goalscorer. Deadly in and around the box, he possesses a sixth sense for sniffing out a chance.
Weaknesses: Klose can go through dry patches and has seen his place threatened at Bayern this season. He lacks the dynamism and pace of younger rivals.

Career high: Ending the 2006 World Cup as top scorer, his five goals in the competition earning him the coveted Golden Boot as he followed in the footsteps of West German legend Gerd Muller who achieved the same feat in 1970.
Career low: Missing out on a second Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich on the final day of the 2008-09 season.

Style: Deadly, clinical, imposing, an old-fashioned goalscorer.

Quotes: "Klose was outstanding. Both he and Lukas Podolski have unbelievable goal-to-game ratios." Joachim Low, September 2009.

Trivia: Only Gerd Muller, with 68 goals for West Germany, and Joachim Streich, with 55 goals for East Germany, have scored more times than 'Miro' in the history of international football in the country.

Soccernet says: Klose reserves his best form for the World Cup finals and although he probably has little chance of scoring five goals again, he should be a constant threat for Low's side.

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