• Polish Spoken Here: New Language and New Stars on Womens Tour

  New York Times - Found Jun. 20, 2009 Poland has a history of supplying Germany with sports stars, including Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, Polish-born soccer players who...

• Bitter row splits the German camp ahead of England game

  Mirror.co.uk - Found Jul. 3, 2009 'Team hierarchy is a volatile thing. Certain players exude a national authority, players like Ballack, Philipp Lahm, Frings and Miroslav Klose.

• Striker Gomez ready to meet challenge at Bayern Munich

  Earthtimes.org - Found Jul. 2, 2009 The 30-million-euro (42 million dollars) summer signing joins first-choice strikers Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni at the club and will also...

• Van Gaal starts work on Bayern

  SuperSport - Found Jun. 30, 2009 And van Gaal has plenty of selection in attack with last season's first-choice pairing Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni facing tough competition...

• Under 21s provide a mixed picture of Germany's footballing future

  Deutsche Welle - Found Jun. 26, 2009 Goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn and super striker Miroslav Klose never played in the youth ranks, going straight into the main national team.

• Van Gaal starts work at Bayern

  Daily Dispatch - Found Jul. 2, 2009 And Van Gaal has plenty of selection in attack with last seasons first-choice pairing Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni facing tough competition...

• Soccer Capsules: CONCACAF teams out of Copa Sudamericana

  Brownsville Herald - Found Jun. 30, 2009 Toni dismissed a suggestion that he might now be Bayern's third-choice striker, behind Gomez and fellow Germany international Miroslav Klose.

• PODOLSKI: I WASN'T TAKEN SERIOUSLY

  Sporting Life - Found Jun. 20, 2009 Podolski was told very early on that he was only third choice behind Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni and that, he claims, 'was like a punch in...

• Football?s late bloomers: Five of the best

  The Sport Review - Found Jun. 14, 2009 Miroslav Klose: Toni?s current striking partner in the Bundesliga has had a remarkable football career. Born in Poland, Klose now forms a...

• Tough taskmaster van Gaal starts work on Bayern

  SoccerWay.com - Found Jun. 30, 2009 And van Gaal has plenty of selection in attack with last season's first-choice pairing Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni facing tough competition...

This article's introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (May 2009)

Miroslav Klose

Personal information
Full name	Miroslav Marian Klose
Date of birth	9 June 1978 (1978-06-09) (age 31)
Place of birth	Opole, Poland
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Bayern Munich
Number	18
Senior career1
Years	Club	Apps (Gls)2
1998–1999	FC Homburg	020 (11)
1999–2001	1. FC Kaiserslautern II	049 (25)
1999–2004	1. FC Kaiserslautern	120 (44)
2004–2007	Werder Bremen	089 (53)
2007–	Bayern Munich	053 (20)
National team3
2001–	Germany	088 (44)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:05, 1 June 2009 (UTC). 2 Appearances (Goals) 3 National team caps and goals correct as of 20:46, 11 February 2009 (UTC).

Miroslav Klose (help·info) (born Mirosław Marian Kloze on 9 June 1978 in Opole) is an association football player who plays as a striker for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

Klose is known for his goalscoring instincts, aerial ability, and unselfish play.

Born in Polish part of Silesia, Klose plays for the German national team, qualifying for selection 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 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.

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.¹

In 2006 interviews for German Süddeutsche Zeitung² 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 Klose⁵ 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 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.

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 the player. 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

Miroslav Klose during the 2006 FIFA World Cup

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	2-0	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 3rd 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 1 June 2009 (2009 -06-01)^[update]

^* Includes Liga-Pokal.

References

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

Miroslav Klose - Navigation boxes and awards v • d • e Germany squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Kahn • 2 Linke • 3 Rehmer • 4 Baumann • 5 Ramelow • 6 Ziege • 7 Neuville • 8 Hamann • 9 Jancker • 10 Ricken • 11 Klose • 12 Lehmann • 13 Ballack • 14 Asamoah • 15 Kehl • 16 Jeremies • 17 Bode • 18 Böhme • 19 Schneider • 20 Bierhoff • 21 Metzelder • 22 Frings • 23 Butt • Coach: Völler v • d • e Germany squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Kahn • 2 Hinkel • 3 Friedrich • 4 Wörns • 5 Nowotny • 6 Baumann • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Hamann • 9 Bobic • 10 Kurányi • 11 Klose • 12 Lehmann • 13 Ballack • 14 Brdaric • 15 Kehl • 16 Jeremies • 17 Ziege • 18 Ernst • 19 Schneider • 20 Podolski • 21 Lahm • 22 Frings • 23 Hildebrand • Coach: Völler v • d • e Germany squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Lehmann • 2 Jansen • 3 Friedrich • 4 Huth • 5 Kehl • 6 Nowotny • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Frings • 9 Hanke • 10 Neuville • 11 Klose • 12 Kahn • 13 Ballack • 14 Asamoah • 15 Hitzlsperger • 16 Lahm • 17 Mertesacker • 18 Borowski • 19 Schneider • 20 Podolski • 21 Metzelder • 22 Odonkor • 23 Hildebrand • Coach: Klinsmann v • d • e Germany squad – UEFA Euro 2008 Runners-up 1 Lehmann • 2 Jansen • 3 A. Friedrich • 4 Fritz • 5 Westermann • 6 Rolfes • 7 Schweinsteiger • 8 Frings • 9 Gómez • 10 Neuville • 11 Klose • 12 Enke • 13 Ballack • 14 Trochowski • 15 Hitzlsperger • 16 Lahm • 17 Mertesacker • 18 Borowski • 19 Odonkor • 20 Podolski • 21 Metzelder • 22 Kurányi • 23 Adler • Coach: Löw v • d • e Bundesliga top scorers 1964: Seeler · 1965: Brunnenmeier · 1966: Emmerich · 1967: Emmerich/Gerd Müller · 1968: Löhr · 1969: Gerd Müller · 1970: Gerd Müller · 1971: Kobluhn · 1972: Gerd Müller · 1973: Gerd Müller · 1974: Heynckes/Gerd Müller · 1975: Heynckes · 1976: Fischer · 1977: Dieter Müller · 1978: Dieter Müller/Gerd Müller · 1979: Allofs · 1980: Rummenigge · 1981: Rummenigge · 1982: Hrubesch · 1983: Völler · 1984: Rummenigge · 1985: Allofs · 1986: Kuntz · 1987: Rahn · 1988: Klinsmann · 1989: Allofs/Wohlfarth · 1990: Andersen · 1991: Wohlfarth · 1992: Walter · 1993: Kirsten/Yeboah · 1994: Kuntz/Yeboah · 1995: Basler/Herrlich · 1996: Bobic · 1997: Kirsten · 1998: Kirsten · 1999: Preetz · 2000: Max · 2001: Barbarez/Sand · 2002: Amoroso/Max · 2003: Christiansen/Élber · 2004: Aílton · 2005: Mintál · 2006: Klose · 2007: Gekas · 2008: Toni · 2009: Grafite v • d • e German Footballer of the Year 1960: Seeler · 1961: Morlock · 1962: Schnellinger · 1963: Schäfer · 1964: Seeler · 1965: Tilkowski · 1966: Beckenbauer · 1967: Müller · 1968: Beckenbauer · 1969: Müller · 1970: Seeler · 1971: Vogts · 1972: Netzer · 1973: Netzer · 1974: Beckenbauer · 1975: Maier · 1976: Beckenbauer · 1977: Maier · 1978: Maier · 1979: Vogts · 1980: Rummenigge · 1981: Breitner · 1982: Förster · 1983: Völler · 1984: Schumacher · 1985: Briegel · 1986: Schumacher · 1987: Rahn · 1988: Klinsmann · 1989: Häßler · 1990: Matthäus · 1991: Kuntz · 1992: Häßler · 1993: Köpke · 1994: Klinsmann · 1995: Sammer · 1996: Sammer · 1997: Kohler · 1998: Bierhoff · 1999: Matthäus · 2000: Kahn · 2001: Kahn · 2002: Ballack · 2003: Ballack · 2004: Aílton · 2005: Ballack · 2006: Klose · 2007: Gómez · 2008: Ribéry · 2009: Džeko Awards and achievements Preceded by Ronaldo FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe 2006 Succeeded by Incumbent