Miroslav Klose has beaten Ronaldo’s record to become the top scorer in World Cup history.
The German forward scored his side’s second goal in their overwhelming 7-1 victory in the semi-final against Brazil to become the record holder with 16.
“We are a team and it shows on the field,” he said. “It’s also important that our set pieces bring results. You saw it again today. Toni puts the ball where it has to go every time and that’s a big strength.” After scoring against Brazil, in his 23rd career World Cup game, Klose refrained from doing his trademark back flip. “I got hit in my left foot while attempting a shot and I was not able to do the flip,” he said.
Germany coach Joachim Loew praised the veteran and only true striker on the team. “It really means a lot to all of us. This is a record. We believe that he really deserves it. Because at his age, he is still playing at the highest possible level.”
Klose’s first World Cup appearance came in 2002, where he scored a hat trick in an 8-0 victory over Saudi Arabia. He scored again in their next group game, a 1-1 draw with Republic of Ireland, before scoring the second in a 2-0 victory over Cameroon. Despite Germany’s run to the final that year, Klose failed to find the net again in the tournament, eventually finishing level on goals with Rivaldo, and behind top scorer Ronaldo who grabbed eight.
During his home World Cup four years later in 2006, the forward found the net five times again, which was enough for the Golden Boot. Klose’s final goal in that World Cup was his vital 80th-minute equalizer against Argentina in the quarter-finals, that brought the score to 1-1, with Germany eventually winning on penalties.
And in 2010, he managed four more strikes: once in their opening 4-0 win over Australia, once in their 4-1 defeating England in the last-16 and twice in their 4-0 destruction of Argentina in the quarter-finals.
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