Miroslav Klose

Miroslav Josef Klose (, Mirosław Józef Klose; born Mirosław Marian Klose; 9 June 1978) is a German professional football manager and former player.

His father, Josef Klose, was also a professional footballer who played for Odra Opole before leaving Poland in 1978 to play for French club Auxerre.

His mother, Barbara Jeż, was a member of the Poland women's national handball team.

Josef Klose was an Aussiedler whose family had remained behind when Silesia was ceded to Poland after World War II.

In 1986, then eight-year-old Miroslav joined his father in Kusel, West Germany, knowing only two words of German.

Klose developed his footballing skill and passion with local club SG Blaubach-Diedelkopf, which at the time was in the West-German seventh division.

He was also an apprentice carpenter.

In 1998, Klose's professional career began at age 20 with a switch to the reserves at former Bundesliga outfit FC Homburg.

Twelve months later, he moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

He played for the second team and made his first appearance in the Bundesliga in April 2000.

He scored 16 goals in the 2001–02 season and was shy of only two goals to become the top scorer.

A striker, Klose is the all-time top scorer for Germany and holds the record for the most goals scored in the FIFA World Cup with 16 goals scored over 4 editions of the tournament between 2002 and 2014.

He holds the record for the most goals scored in FIFA World Cup tournaments, having scored five goals in his debut World Cup in 2002 and having won the Golden Boot at the 2006 World Cup in Germany by again scoring five times.

In March 2004, Klose signed a four-year contract with Werder Bremen for a €5 million ($6.2 million) transfer fee.

He made his league debut on 6 August 2004 as a substitute for Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdez in a 1–0 home win against Schalke 04.

On 29 August 2004, Klose scored his first goal, an equaliser, but the Bremen team lost 2–1 at home against VfL Wolfsburg.

Starting his career at FC 08 Homburg, Klose played in the Bundesliga for Kaiserslautern before becoming one of the most prolific scorers in the league with Werder Bremen, where he was awarded the German Footballer of the Year in 2006 and also named to the kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season in 2004–05 and 2005–06.

His performances saw him move to giants Bayern Munich in 2007.

During his time at Bayern, Klose won the 2007–08 and 2009–10 league titles.

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 the Bremen team at the end of the 2007–08 season.

On 26 June 2007, Bayern Munich club president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed his team had reached an agreement with Werder Bremen regarding the transfer of Klose.

Klose completed his medical with Bayern on 28 June 2007 before signing a four-year contract.

Klose won the first major honours of his club career at the end of his first season with Bayern, as they won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal in 2007–08.

He also scored four times in the 2010 World Cup and twice at the 2014 World Cup, in the latter tournament overtaking Brazil's Ronaldo's then-record of 15 goals to top the all-time list.

In 2010, he won the 2010 DFL-Supercup, scoring a goal in the 81st minute.

In 2011, Klose moved to Serie A club Lazio, where he won the 2012–13 Coppa Italia and eventually finished his playing career in 2016 after five years at the club.

Klose is best known for his performances with the German national team.

On 7 June 2011, with his contract about to expire, Klose did not reach an agreement with Bayern, thus leaving the club at the end of the 2010–11 season.

He had scored one Bundesliga goal in 20 matches in his final season.

Klose signed a three-year contract with Italian Serie A club Lazio on 9 June 2011.

He scored his first goal for Lazio in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League play-offs and also assisted four other goals.

Lazio won that match 6–0 and won the play-off 9–1 on aggregate against Rabotnički.

On 9 September 2011, he made his Serie A debut in a 2–2 draw against Milan and scored a goal in the 12th minute, which was the first Serie A goal of the season.

Despite having been at the club for only a few months, Lazio coach Edoardo Reja underlined his importance to the team.

On 16 October 2011, Klose scored in the 93rd minute to win the Rome derby against Roma for Lazio, 2–1.

However, the occasion was tainted by a small section of radical Lazio fans holding a sign adapted from a motto used by the Nazis.

He was part of the squad that won the 2014 World Cup, having previously finished second (2002) and third (2006, 2010) in the competition; he finished as runner-up with Germany at UEFA Euro 2008 and joint-third place at UEFA Euro 2012.

He retired from the national team in August 2014, shortly after Germany's victory at the 2014 World Cup.

Klose was born in the Silesian city of Opole, Poland.

Both of his parents were professional athletes.