Miroslav Klose

Miroslav Klose (born Mirosław Marian Kloze  on 9 June 1978 in Opole, Poland) is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. 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.

Klose plays internationally for the German national team. Although Polish by birth, Klose holds German nationality. 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. He scored in his first game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, opened the scoring against England in the first round of the knock out stages, and scored twice on his 100th cap against Argentina in the quarter-finals, giving him a total of 14 goals in World Cup finals. This puts him joint second along with Gerd Müller on the list of FIFA World Cup goalscorers.

He is the first German player since reunification to finish as the World Cup's top scorer, and the only player to have scored five or more goals in consecutive World Cups. A natural with his head, he was a mainstay in Bayern's starting XI before injuries took him out of the team for a while; during his convalescence, Ivica Olić filled in and replaced Klose as Louis van Gaal's first-choice striker. [source : Klose]

Miroslav Klose Pictures