Miroslav Klose, German footballer
Miroslav Josef Klose (German: [ˈmiːʁoslaf ˈkloːzə] (listen), Polish: Mirosław Józef Klose; born 9 June 1978) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. He holds the record for the most goals scored in FIFA World Cup tournaments.Klose is best known for his performances with the German national team. He was part of the squad that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup, having previously finished second (2002) and third (2006, 2010) in the competition, and as runner-up at UEFA Euro 2008 and joint-third place at UEFA Euro 2012. Klose is the men's top goalscorer of the FIFA World Cup with 16 goals, 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. He also scored four times in the 2010 World Cup and twice at the 2014 World Cup, in the latter tournament overtaking Ronaldo's then-record of 15 goals to top the all-time list. Klose is also the all-time top scorer for Germany, which never lost a game in which Klose scored, and one of the very few players ever to have won gold, silver and bronze medals in the World Cup. He retired from the national team on 11 August 2014, shortly after Germany's victory at the 2014 World Cup.At club level, Klose has been a less prolific but usually reliable goalscorer. Starting his career at FC 08 Homburg, he played in the Bundesliga for Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich, and in Serie A for Lazio where he finished his playing career in 2016 after five years at the club. He won two league titles with Bayern, along with cup competitions at Bayern, Werder Bremen and Lazio.