Miroslav Klose seems to like the World Cup. He is the only player to have scored five or more goals in consecutive tournaments. After making his World Cup debut in 2002, Klose went on to net five times finishing second to Brazil’s Ronaldo. Three of those goals came in spectacular fashion from a hat trick during Germany’s 8-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia. Four years later in his homeland, Miroslav once again found his shooting boots as his country marched to the semi-final stage where they were beaten in extra time by Italy. However, Klose’s five goals this time did help him secure the Golden Boot award and to date he has 10 World Cup goals to his name.
Polish-born Klose became eligible to represent Germany through the nationality of his father, but he was a relative late starter in the great scheme of things. Eventually he got his break in 1999 playing for FC Kaiserslautern and it wasn’t long before he was demonstrating the goal scoring ability that led to his first international cap in 2001. Klose scored the winner on his debut in a 2-1 victory over Albania and rapidly became one of Germany’s most feared strikers. So much that Werder Bremen splashed out €5 million for his services in the 2002-03 season. Now at Bayern Munich, Klose helped the Bavarian club to a domestic league and cup double this season, but had to settle for a place on the bench in the 2010 Champions League Final. The striker did enter the fray midway through the second half but lacked the supply he’ll need if he is to thrive again this summer.
Can he become the first player to finish as top goalscorer in consecutive World Cup finals? Well, history might be against him but you can’t rule him out. The Germans always seem to do well in the big competitions and if this trend is to continue they’ll need someone of Klose’s calibre to find the back of the net. Skybet currently offer a generous 33/1 that Miroslav retains the Golden Boot which is certainly worth a small flutter. To finish as his country’s leading goal getter, fair odds of 3/1 are trading which may be worth a larger stake. Lukasz Podolski and Mario Gomez are next best at 4/1 and 7/2 respectively but Klose is probably Joachim Low’s most trusted striker an can repeat his previous fine form by outscoring his team-mates.
there is no doubt there are better strikers out there than Klose, but it is dangerous to underestimate his goal threat. Germany aren’t a team of individuals, but are a very effective team where Klose is a real goal poacher. Germany will also no doubtedly do well in the tournament and Klose definitely has excellent each-way claims in the Golden Boot market.
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