Miroslav Klose

Miroslav Klose
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]

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.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.

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
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.