Miroslav Klose
| Miroslav Klose | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 June 1978 | |
| Place of birth | Opole, Poland | |
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 111⁄2 in) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Bayern Munich | |
| Number | 18 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1998–1999 1999–2004 2004–2007 2007– |
FC Homburg 1. FC Kaiserslautern Werder Bremen Bayern Munich |
20 (11) 120 (44) 89 (53) 41 (16) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2001– | Germany | 87 (44) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Miroslav Klose (pronunciation, born as Mirosław Marian Kloze on 9 June 1978 in Opole), is a German footballer who plays as a striker. He plays for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga in Germany, and for the German national team. He is known for his goalscoring instincts, aerial ability, and unselfish play.
Klose 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 player representing unified 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.
Contents |
Biography
Background
Klose was born in Opole, Silesia, Poland. Both of his parents were active in sports; his mother, Barbara Jeż, was a member of the Poland women's national handball team. His father Josef Klose played professional football in Poland for Odra Opole, before he in 1978 left communist Poland by moving to France to play for clubs like AJ Auxerre. In 1985 Miroslav and his mother would join him in Kusel, Germany. Klose's father is from an ethnic German family and thus they were permitted to settle as Aussiedler in West Germany.[1]
In 2006 interviews for German Süddeutsche Zeitung[2] and Polish tabloid Fakt, Josef Klose stated that he absolutely does not want to be regarded as Polish, declaring himself rather as an Silesian and a European, and stating that the success of his son is due to himself and German clubs. Miro Klose himself said in a recent interview to Przegląd Sportowy that it would be best for him not to be called German or Polish, but European.[3] As he stated in an interview to Der Spiegel in 2007, his family at home speaks Polish to each other, with his twin sons learning German in Kindergarten.[4] He has a Polish-born wife Sylwia Klose[5] and is the father of twins Luan and Noah.[6]
As footballer
Klose learned his football at a village club, Blaubach-Diedelkopf, in the German seventh division. Klose had also successfully completed an apprenticeship to become a carpenter and had worked in this profession until joining the professional team of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Klose made it professional much later than football players in the age bracket. He has in the past had many comparisons with various world class strikers such as Owen and van Nistelrooy. When asked about the comparisons Klose expressed his flattery to be compared to the likes of van Nistelrooy, “It's an honour to be compared to Ruud. He's played in Europe for so long and has a great goal scoring record. I hope one day I can be as good as him.” This interview was conducted in June 2007 with Der Spiegel prior his move to Bayern Munich. After all, he become the best soccer player in Europe competing with other Strikers. He is known as the IRON HEAD because of his head karishma. in 2002 world cup, all the goals he got was from his head.
Club career
Kaiserslautern
After a season at FC Homburg, he eventually joined the amateur division of FC Kaiserslautern.
A year after joining the club he made it into the first team. In his first 67 matches, Klose scored 33 goals. The 2002–03 season was a comparatively disappointing one as Klose found the back of the net a mere seven times.
Werder Bremen
Klose transferred to Werder Bremen in 2004 for a sum of €5 million. After a lackluster start, Klose formed an impressive attacking triangle with French midfielder Johan Micoud and Croatian forward Ivan Klasnić as well as, though less frequently, Paraguayan forward Nelson Valdez, scoring 15 goals in the Bundesliga.
Despite his relatively slender frame, Klose is one of the best headers of the ball in the Bundesliga. Moreover, he combines a natural killer instinct inside the box with excellent technical ability, and is equally lethal with the ball at his feet. By 2005, the introverted Klose had established himself as one of Germany's top forwards, if not the best. In the 2005–06 season, he scored 25 goals, the highest that season, and registered 16 assists in just 26 games in the Bundesliga.
After his strong performance at the 2006 World Cup, Klose was linked by newspapers with a move away from the Weserstadion. European giants Barcelona and Juventus were listed among his potential suitors. Klose was also heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich, with Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer an admirer of Klose.
On 7 June 2007, Klose confirmed that he would leave Werder Bremen for Bayern Munich either before the 2007–08 season or upon the expiration of his contract with Werder at the end of the 2007–08 season.[7]
Bayern Munich
On 26 June 2007, club president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed that Bayern Munich had reached an agreement with Werder Bremen regarding the transfer of Klose for an estimated fee of €15 million. Klose completed his medical with Bayern on 28 June 2007 before signing a four-year contract.
After these successful friendly matches, Klose made his first competitive appearance for Bayern in a 4–1 victory against old team Werder Bremen in the first round of the DFB-Ligapokal. After missing the semi-final victory over VfB Stuttgart due to injury, Klose returned in the final against Schalke, scoring his first competitive goal for Bayern to win the title.
Klose made his Bundesliga debut in the game against Hansa Rostock on 11 August 2007 in which he scored two goals. The game ended 3–0 for Bayern Munich with Klose's striking partner Luca Toni scoring the third goal. In late September, he claimed his first hat-trick for the club in a 5-0 League success over Energie Cottbus.
After that bright start to his Bayern career, Klose struggled during the latter half of the Bundesliga season. His total of 20 goals in all competitions - with an impressive DFB Cup record - did however play a significant role in helping the club to a league and cup double.
International career
His consistency as a goal-scorer in his first Bundesliga season at Kaiserslautern earned him attention. In January 2001, the then national coach Jerzy Engel of the Polish national team travelled to Germany to persuade Klose to choose playing for Poland. This request was declined by Klose who said that: “I have a German passport, and if things are still running this way, I have a chance to play for Rudi Völler”. In fact, he soon was capped and made his debut for Germany against Albania on 24 March 2001. Klose came on as a substitute and headed in from close range the winning 2-1 goal two minutes from time.[8]
In an interview given to Przegląd Sportowy on 9 June 2008, Klose stated that the decision to play for Germany instead of Poland was not an easy one, and if Polish officials had been faster, he would be playing for Poland now. Furthermore, he added that he does not regret the choice, as with Germany he has won medals in the World Cup tournaments.[3] The German national team has never lost a game in which Klose has scored.
2002 World Cup
In the 2002 World Cup in Korea-Japan, he scored five headed goals for the German national team, finishing joint second highest goal scorer along with Rivaldo. This tally included a hat trick in Germany's 8–0 hammering of Saudi Arabia. Klose's trademark goal celebration is a front-flip which he did five times during the 2002 World Cup and which has earned him the fans' nickname “Salto-Klose”.
2006 World Cup
Klose was named to his second successive World Cup team for the 2006 World Cup. In the opening match against Costa Rica, coinciding with his 28th birthday, Klose scored two goals, in the 17th and 61st minutes. This led to Germany's 4–2 win over Costa Rica.
Klose played against the country of his birth, Poland, in Germany's second match. During the tournament, he formed a formidable strike partnership with Poland-born Lukas Podolski scoring 8 goals between them.
He scored another two goals against Ecuador on 20 June, putting him on top of the tournament top scorer list with four goals. Klose also played a major part in Germany's 2–0 win over Sweden in the first knockout round, demonstrating his ability to provide assists as he set up strike partner Lukas Podolski for both goals.
Klose scored the equaliser against Argentina in the quarterfinal game played on June 30, 2006, with Germany going on to win 4–2 on penalties. Klose is the first German since Gerd Müller in the 1970s to become the top scorer at a World Cup, and the first World Cup finals top scorer from unified Germany (Müller represented the former West Germany). Klose has scored ten goals in World Cup finals, and is six goals away from overtaking Brazilian forward Ronaldo as the all-time highest scorer in the World Cup.
Klose's five 2002 World Cup goals were all headers; only the fifth of his five goals in the 2006 matches was a header (his first in two years). Three of the first four were scored with his favoured right foot. Klose and team-mate Michael Ballack became the only two All-Star Team Players of the 2006 World Cup to be in the previous All-Star Team of 2002. Klose also holds the record for being the only player to score 5 goals in consecutive World Cups.
Euro 2008
On 6 September 2006, Klose scored two away goals against San Marino in a 13–0 Euro 2008 Qualifying win which took his international goal tally to 33, the same amount as his idol Fritz Walter and to joint 7th in the list of all-time goalscorers for Germany.
He had a goal drought for a long time with the national team, causing speculation that he may be dropped from the starting line-up. But German coach Joachim Löw has denied this.
Another highlight in Klose's career came on 8 September 2007, as he captained Germany for the first time and celebrated this honour by scoring both of his country's goals in a 2–0 victory over Wales. The next day, one of the headlines in the UEFA official website was “Captain Klose Takes Germany Closer (to qualifying).”
In the main tournament, Klose started the opening group game against Poland and was the provider of both of German goals which were scored by Lukas Podolski in a 2-0 victory. He played the remaining two group games against Croatia and Austria with no goals. He finally broke his duck during the knockout stages, scoring the second goal for Germany during both quarter final and semi-final against Portugal and Turkey. However he was unable to score during the final against Spain.
International goals
-
- Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 24 March 2001 | BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany |  Albania |
2-1 | 2-1 | World Cup 2002 Qualifying |
| 2. | 28 March 2001 | Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece |  Greece |
3-2 | 4-2 | World Cup 2002 Qualifying |
| 3. | 13 February 2002 | Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany |  Israel |
1-1 | 7-1 | Friendly |
| 4. | 13 February 2002 | Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany | Israel |
2-1 | 7-1 | Friendly |
| 5. | 13 February 2002 | Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany | Israel |
4-1 | 7-1 | Friendly |
| 6. | 18 May 2002 | BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany |  Austria |
1-0 | 6-2 | Friendly |
| 7. | 18 May 2002 | BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany | Austria |
2-0 | 6-2 | Friendly |
| 8. | 18 May 2002 | BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany | Austria |
4-2 | 6-2 | Friendly |
| 9. | 1 June 2002 | Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan |  Saudi Arabia |
1-0 | 8-0 | FIFA World Cup 2002 |
| 10. | 1 June 2002 | Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan | Saudi Arabia |
2-0 | 8-0 | FIFA World Cup 2002 |
| 11. | 1 June 2002 | Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan | Saudi Arabia |
5-0 | 8-0 | FIFA World Cup 2002 |
| 12. | 5 June 2002 | Kashima Stadium, Kashima, Japan |  Republic of Ireland |
1-0 | 1-1 | FIFA World Cup 2002 |
| 13. | 11 June 2002 | Shizuoka Stadium, Shizuoka, Japan |  Cameroon |
1-0 | 2-0 | FIFA World Cup 2002 |
| 14. | 16 October 2002 | AWD-Arena, Hannover, Germany |  Faroe Islands |
2-1 | 2-1 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 15. | 11 June 2003 | Gundadalur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands | Faroe Islands |
1-0 | 2-0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 16. | 18 February 2004 | Gradski stadion u Poljudu, Split, Croatia |  Croatia |
1-0 | 2-1 | Friendly |
| 17. | 17 November 2004 | Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany | Cameroon |
1-0 | 3-0 | Friendly |
| 18. | 17 November 2004 | Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany | Cameroon |
2-0 | 3-0 | Friendly |
| 19. | 16 December 2004 | International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan |  Japan |
1-0 | 3-0 | Friendly |
| 20. | 16 December 2004 | International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan | Japan |
3-0 | 3-0 | Friendly |
| 21. | 1 March 2006 | Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany |  United States |
3-0 | 4-1 | Friendly |
| 22. | 27 May 2006 | Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany |  Luxembourg |
1-0 | 7-0 | Friendly |
| 23. | 27 May 2006 | Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany | Luxembourg |
4-0 | 7-0 | Friendly |
| 24. | 30 May 2006 | BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany | Japan |
1-2 | 2-2 | Friendly |
| 25. | 9 June 2006 | Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany |  Costa Rica |
2-1 | 4-2 | FIFA World Cup 2006 |
| 26. | 9 June 2006 | Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany | Costa Rica |
3-1 | 4-2 | FIFA World Cup 2006 |
| 27. | 20 June 2006 | Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany |  Ecuador |
1-0 | 3-0 | FIFA World Cup 2006 |
| 28. | 20 June 2006 | Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany | Ecuador |
2-0 | 3-0 | FIFA World Cup 2006 |
| 29. | 30 June 2006 | Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany |  Argentina |
1-1 | 1-1 (a.e.t.), 4-2 (pen.) | FIFA World Cup 2006 |
| 30. | 16 August 2006 | Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany |  Sweden |
2-0 | 3-0 | Friendly |
| 31. | 16 August 2006 | Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany | Sweden |
3-0 | 3-0 | Friendly |
| 32. | 6 September 2006 | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino |  San Marino |
3-0 | 13-0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 33. | 6 September 2006 | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino | San Marino |
6-0 | 13-0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 34. | 8 September 2007 | Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales |  Wales |
1-0 | 2-0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 35. | 8 September 2007 | Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales | Wales |
2-0 | 2-0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 36. | 17 November 2007 | AWD Arena, Hannover, Germany |  Cyprus |
2-0 | 4-0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 37. | 6 February 2008 | Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria | Austria |
2-0 | 3-0 | Friendly |
| 38. | 26 March 2008 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland |  Switzerland |
1-0 | 4-0 | Friendly |
| 39. | 27 May 2008 | Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany |  Belarus |
1-0 | 2-2 | Friendly |
| 40. | 19 June 2008 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland |  Portugal |
2-0 | 3-2 | UEFA Euro 2008 |
| 41. | 25 June 2008 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland |  Turkey |
2-1 | 3-2 | UEFA Euro 2008 |
| 42. | 10 September 2008 | Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland |  Finland |
1-1 | 3-3 | FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying |
| 43. | 10 September 2008 | Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland | Finland |
2-2 | 3-3 | FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying |
| 44. | 10 September 2008 | Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland | Finland |
3-3 | 3-3 | FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying |
Awards and Honours
Club
- Werder Bremen
- DFB-Ligapokal: 2006
- Bayern Munich
- Bundesliga: 2007-08
- DFB-Pokal: 2008
- DFB-Ligapokal: 2007
National Team
- FIFA World Cup Runner-Up: 2002
- FIFA World Cup Third Place: 2006
- UEFA European Football Championship Runner-up: 2008
Individual
- Bundesliga Top Goalscorer (25 goals): 2006
- German Footballer of the Year: 2006
- World Cup Silver Shoe: 2002
- World Cup Golden Shoe: 2006
Career stats
As of 26 November 2008[update]
| Club | Season | Domestic League | Domestic Cup* | European Competition | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| Bayern Munich | 08–09 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 10 |
| 07–08 | 27 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 47 | 21 | |
| Total | 40 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 8 | 67 | 31 | |
| Werder Bremen | 06–07 | 31 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 47 | 15 |
| 05–06 | 26 | 25 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 40 | 31 | |
| 04–05 | 32 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 44 | 17 | |
| Total | 89 | 53 | 13 | 2 | 30 | 8 | 132 | 63 | |
| FC Kaiserslautern | 03–04 | 26 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 12 |
| 02–03 | 32 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 13 | |
| 01–02 | 31 | 16 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 35 | 16 | |
| 00–01 | 29 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 45 | 11 | |
| 99–00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 120 | 44 | 13 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 147 | 52 | |
| Career Totals | 249 | 112 | 36 | 15 | 61 | 19 | 346 | 146 | |
* Includes Liga-Pokal.
References
- ↑ "Miroslav Klose". GFDb.com. Retrieved on 9 November 2008.
- ↑ Thomas Urban (26 June 2006). "Stolz von Oberschlesien - Der Vater von Miroslav Klose will nur eines nicht: als Pole gelten (Upper Silesia's pride: The father of Miroslav Klose does not want one thing: to be considered Polish)" (in German). Süddeutsche Zeitung online. Retrieved on 18 February 2008.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Miroslav Klose: Gdybyście się nie spóźnili..." (in Polish). euro2008.pl (9 June 2008). Retrieved on 14 June 2008.
- ↑ ""Ein dickköpfiges Bambi"" (in German). spiegel.de (17 December 2007). Retrieved on 14 June 2008.
- ↑ "Spielerfrauen. Sylwia Klose". www.em-08.info/. Retrieved on 9 November 2008.
- ↑ ""Miroslav Klose"". Retrieved on 25 June 2008.
- ↑ "Reds table bid for Werder star Klose". fcbayern.de (6 June 2007). Retrieved on 18 February 2008.
- ↑ "Klose call as Germans beat Albania". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 8 June 2008.
External links
- Klose's official site (German)
- Profile at official Bayern Munich site
- Profile at UEFA.com
- Profile at Kicker.de (German)
- Career stats at Fussballdaten.de (German)
- Profile at Transfermarkt.de (German)
- Klose´s ancestors from Upper Silesia, Poland
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ronaldo |
FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe 2006 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Michael Ballack |
German Footballer of the Year 2006 |
Succeeded by Mario Gómez |
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