About this sound Miroslav Klose (help·info) (born Mirosław Marian Kloze on 9 June 1978 in Opole) is a German association footballer who plays as a striker for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. He has a good scoring record in both domestic and international football as well as a decent assists tally. Since bursting into 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.
Born in Polish part of Silesia, Klose plays for the German national team. He is German and Polish 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 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.
Biography
Background
Klose was born in Opole, Upper 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 leaving communist Poland in 1978 and moving to France to play for clubs like AJ Auxerre. In 1985, Miroslav and his mother joined 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.
In 2006 interviews for German Süddeutsche Zeitung[1] 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. 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.[2] 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.[3] He has a Polish-born wife Sylwia Klose[4] and is the father of twins Luan and Noah.[5]
Football career
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 was something of a late bloomer compared to many other professional footballers in his age bracket. He has in the past had many comparisons with various world class strikers such as Michael Owen and Ruud 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.
Club career
Kaiserslautern
After a season at FC Homburg, he eventually joined the reserve team of 1. 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
Miroslav Klose at 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. 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.[6]
Bayern Munich
Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose (18), Olympiastadion, Hertha BSC Berlin vs Bayern München, 2009.
On 26 June 2007, club president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed that Bayern Munich had reached an agreement with Werder Bremen regarding the transfer of the player. Klose completed his medical with Bayern on 28 June 2007 before signing a four-year contract.
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.
Klose's second season at the club was a positive one. He finished as Bayern's top scorer in all competitions with 20 goals, a figure that could have been higher but for an injury sustained in March. 7 of his tally came in the Champions' League, making him the second-best goalscorer in that year's competition.
International career
Miroslav Klose during the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Klose's 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.[7]
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.[2] The German national team has never lost a game in which Klose has scored. Since 9 September 2009 he is with Rudi Völler and Jürgen Klinsmann second in the all-time German topscorer list.[8]
2002 World Cup
Klose came to international prominence at 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, earning him the nickname “Salto-Klose” from fans.
2006 World Cup
Miroslav Klose in 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 as Germany topped the scoring charts with 13 goals in 6 matches.
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. His ten goals puts him third in the list of German top scorers in World Cup history, behind the legendary Gerd Müller and former manager Jürgen Klinsmann, and first from the reunified Germany.
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 assisted Lukas Podolski's two goals 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.
About this sound Miroslav Klose (help·info) (born Mirosław Marian Kloze on 9 June 1978 in Opole) is a German association footballer who plays as a striker for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. He has a good scoring record in both domestic and international football as well as a decent assists tally. Since bursting into 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.
Born in Polish part of Silesia, Klose plays for the German national team. He is German and Polish 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 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.
Biography
Background
Klose was born in Opole, Upper 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 leaving communist Poland in 1978 and moving to France to play for clubs like AJ Auxerre. In 1985, Miroslav and his mother joined 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.
In 2006 interviews for German Süddeutsche Zeitung[1] 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. 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.[2] 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.[3] He has a Polish-born wife Sylwia Klose[4] and is the father of twins Luan and Noah.[5]
Football career
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 was something of a late bloomer compared to many other professional footballers in his age bracket. He has in the past had many comparisons with various world class strikers such as Michael Owen and Ruud 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.
Club career
Kaiserslautern
After a season at FC Homburg, he eventually joined the reserve team of 1. 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
Miroslav Klose at 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. 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.[6]
Bayern Munich
Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose (18), Olympiastadion, Hertha BSC Berlin vs Bayern München, 2009.
On 26 June 2007, club president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed that Bayern Munich had reached an agreement with Werder Bremen regarding the transfer of the player. Klose completed his medical with Bayern on 28 June 2007 before signing a four-year contract.
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.
Klose's second season at the club was a positive one. He finished as Bayern's top scorer in all competitions with 20 goals, a figure that could have been higher but for an injury sustained in March. 7 of his tally came in the Champions' League, making him the second-best goalscorer in that year's competition.
International career
Miroslav Klose during the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Klose's 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.[7]
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.[2] The German national team has never lost a game in which Klose has scored. Since 9 September 2009 he is with Rudi Völler and Jürgen Klinsmann second in the all-time German topscorer list.[8]
2002 World Cup
Klose came to international prominence at 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, earning him the nickname “Salto-Klose” from fans.
2006 World Cup
Miroslav Klose in 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 as Germany topped the scoring charts with 13 goals in 6 matches.
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. His ten goals puts him third in the list of German top scorers in World Cup history, behind the legendary Gerd Müller and former manager Jürgen Klinsmann, and first from the reunified Germany.
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 assisted Lukas Podolski's two goals 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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment