Miroslav Klose Retirement Ends Golden Germany Career for World Cup Record Holder

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: August 11, 2014

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One hundred thirty-seven caps. Seventy-one goals. Six major international semifinals in seven opportunities. A record 16 World Cup goals. And finally, one World Cup title. These are the staggering figures that best describe Miroslav Klose's career as a Germany international, which came to an end on Monday.

Many great strikers have entered and exited the world of international football since the turn of the millennium: Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Raul, David Villa, Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko, to name a few. But none of the aforementioned can claim to have had records on par with those of Klose.

Among European strikers in the modern era, he stands alone.



Klose is a rare breed of footballer, one who always put country ahead of all other endeavors. Many have joked that he is the only player in football history to have retired at club level in order to focus on his international career; others have postulated that the DFB (German F.A.) should consider keeping him cryogenically frozen so he can participate in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and beyond.

More seriously, in an age in which sponsorship and media hype have blown many egos out of proportion, Klose was always the kind to quietly do his part—both the overtly heroic and the thankless tasks. Where many aim to score goals for the sake of goals, Klose always had a switch he could turn on so that when he scored, it mattered. In fact, just over a fifth (15) of his 71 international goals came in friendlies, a statistic that is bettered by his World Cup goals tally.



The 2000s were some tough years for German football. The Nationalmannschaft underwent some big structural changes, but it was not until around 2010 that these adjustments began to really take effect. For most of his international career, Klose had rather limited support from midfield. But when he had his chances he often took them.

Consider, f...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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