Miroslav Klose Biography

Miroslav Klose is a German former football player born in Poland who is known by everyone to be one of the most prolific goal scorers ever to play football at the top level and holds lots of goal scoring records that have stayed unrivalled for quite some time. Klose was born in Poland but relocated to Germany with his parents when he was a kid and he decided to play for Germany while he had an opportunity to play for Poland too.

Klose began his career by playing for the youth setup of a small football club in Germany before moving to play for FC Kaiserslautern and after a promising spell at the club, he switched to Werder Bremen. He finally ended up playing for Bayern Munich, Germany's largest club. He demonstrated the potential to score goals during his club career and he took it to the German national team too.

He was especially good in the World Cups with 16 goals in 4 tournaments and is the top goalscorer in World Cup history. Also, he has earned the honor of becoming the German national team's top goal scorer ever by scoring a total of 71 goals and smashing the mark of German hero Gerd Muller.

After retirement from football, he started his coaching career once he was hired as a coach for the German national team. He has also worked as a U-17 coach of Bayern Munich for two seasons and currently he is first-team assistant manager of Bayern Munich under Hans-Dieter Flick.

Related Article:

All You Need to Know about Miroslav Klose Biography

Miroslav Klose religion

is Christianity and he is a faithful Catholic. Christianity is very dear to his heart, and he had the opportunity to visit Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, who is a big fan of Bayern Munich. For obvious purposes, it would have been a surprise for both the athlete and the Pope.

Mario Klose nationality

is Polish and German.

Miroslav Klose Information

To let you get know him even more, in this section of Miroslav Klose biography we will share some information about him. Stay tuned to read more about Miroslav Klose bio.

Miroslav Klose Bio

• Real Name: Miroslav Josef Klose

• Nickname: Salto-Klose

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Miroslav Klose Physical Stats

• Weight: 81 Kg

• Height: 1.84 m

• Eye Color: Dark brown

• Hair Color: Dark Brown

Miroslav Klose Football Information

• Position: Striker

• Jersey Number: 11

• Professional Debut: 1998

Miroslav Klose Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 9 June 1978

• Birth Place: Opole, Poland

• Zodiac Sign: Gemini

• Nationality: Polish, German

Miroslav Klose Early Life

Miroslav Klose was born in Opole, a small city located in the south of Poland on 9 June of 1978.

Miroslav Klose childhood

was full of different events, as he migrated to Germany with his family when he was a kid and at the age of 9, and started playing football with the German amateur club SG Blaubach-Diedelkopf. He's played 12 years for the youth ranks of the club.

In the days that he was playing with the youth team of SG Blaubach-Diedelkopf, he was also training to become a carpenter. He actually worked at carpentry until 20 and before he signed a professional contract with the FC 08 Homburg II, scoring 10 goals in 15 matches and thus proving himself as a striker with great potential.

Stay tuned to read more about

Miroslav Klose biography

and professional life.

Related Article:

Miroslav Klose Profile

In his early days, Miroslav Klose first played football at SG Blaubach-Diedelkopf. There he played after leaving the A-youth team in the district league West Palatinate (seventh division). In 1998, as he was 20 years world, he moved to the regional league club FC 08 Homburg and played there both in the second team in the association league (fifth division) and in the first team (third division).

In 1999 he signed for

and played there initially in the amateur team. In his first season in April 2000, he played two matches at Bundesliga, coming on to the pitch as a substitute. His first Bundesliga match was on April 15, 2000, in the home match against Eintracht Frankfurt, when he came on for Jörgen Pettersson in the 76th minute. Klose made his breakthrough in the 2000/01 season, in which he was part of the starting eleven from the fifth matchday and formed a successful storm duo together with Vratislav Lokvenc.

He scored his first Bundesliga goal against Werder Bremen. In the game against Energie Cottbus, he received the first red card of his professional career. He was also one of the top performers in the Kaiserslautern team in the following years and scored 16 goals in the 2001/02 season, only two fewer than the top scorers Márcio Amoroso and Martin Max. After two weaker seasons, in which FCK was in danger of relegation despite nine or ten goals from Klose and the club's financial problems grew, he moved to

for the 2004/05 season for a transfer fee of five million euros.

In Bremen, Klose signed a contract until June 30, 2008. After a weak start, which put him on the bench and sparked criticism against him, he had his breakthrough on matchday 6 when he came on at half-time in the game against VfL Bochum and scored the first hat trick of his Bundesliga career. He then performed consistently well and replaced Bremen's top scorer Aílton, who had transferred to FC Schalke 04.

Klose, who had previously been considered a specialist in goals scored with headers

ط

, also became more effective on the ground and developed into a team-friendly player, which was demonstrated by his nine assists and 15 goals at the end of his first season in Bremen. In the 2005/06 season, he was the top scorer in the Bundesliga with 25 goals in 26 matches. In the same season, he was also topping the table with 14 assists. The next season did not go so great for him as he failed to find the back of the net for eleven consecutive matches and finished the season with just 13 goals. Nevertheless, with his 16 assists, he again scored the most points that season.

After the international match of the German national team against Slovakia on June 6, 2007, Klose announced that he would play for Bayern Munich from the next season.

In the summer transfer window of 2007, Klose moved to FC Bayern Munich. However, the two clubs agreed not to disclose the transfer fee. His contract with FC Bayern Munich was valid for four years until June 30, 2011. Klose received the jersey number 18. His decision to move to FC Bayern, and in particular the circumstances of the transfer, met with criticism from Werder Bremen fans. Therefore he was booed at its official farewell in Bremen on August 18, 2007.

With Bayern, Klose won the Bundesliga two times and the DFB Cup in 2008 and 2010. In 2010 he and his team also reached the final of the Champions League, which lost 2-0 to Inter Milan. At the end of the 2010/11 season, the club and Klose could not agree on an extension of the expiring contract beyond June 30, 2011.

With 121 goals scored at Bundesliga, he was the best Bundesliga goal scorer just behind Claudio Pizarro (156 goals), however, his goal rate at Bayern with less than 0.25 per game was significantly worse than his record at the previous clubs.  

For the 2011/12 season, Klose moved to Lazio on a free transfer. In the Italian capital, he signed a three-year contract which tied him to Lazio until June 2014. His first competitive game in which he also scored his first goal for the club, was at 18 August 2011 in the Europa League qualifying match against FK Rabotnički. His first league goal, also the first goal of the

season at the time, was when Miroslav Klose scored on September 9, 2011, in the opening match of the season against

. 

In his second season for Lazio, he scored 5 goals on the 35th matchday match against Bologna, breaking a record which was set by Roberto Pruzzo some 27 years ago. On 26 May 2013, he won the Italian Cup with Lazio in a 1-0 win over rivals AS Roma.

In May 2014, Klose extended his contract for a year with an extension option for another year. Klose scored two goals within 60 seconds in the 4-2 victory in the Serie A match against Cagliari on 3 November 2014. In June 2015, he triggered his extension option to stay another year in Lazio. In May 2016 Klose announced that he will not renew his contract and left Lazio at the end of 2015/16 season. He retired from playing professional football in early November 2016.

After the end of his career, Klose completed an individual training program at the German Football Association from November 2016 in order to later acquire licenses as a coach and football trainer. From the summer of 2018, his first job was the U17 coach of FC Bayern Munich. In May 2018, Klose signed a contract until 2020. In July 2020, he was appointed as the first team assistant manager of Bayern. At the same time, he took part in the DFB's 67th football teacher training course, which took place digitally for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stay tuned to read more about

Miroslav Klose biography

and style of play.

Related Article:

Style of Play

Miroslav Klose was a consistent goal scorer, a massive and strong attacker who, thanks to his strength, timing, height and heading precision, and also his finishing abilities scored many club and international goals. He was especially renowned for his skill in the air as a striker. He was a great passer of the ball in his peak days and was also famous in the penalty area for his change of speed, movement, and strategic positional sense, which helped him to escape his defending markers and get on the end of crosses.

Besides his physical characteristics, he had a great technique and, thanks to his tactical mind and desire to analyze the game, was able to create goals for his teammates in addition to scoring by himself. He was also recognized for his commitment and positive conduct on the pitch.

Moreover, his personality as a "gentleman" on and off the pitch has often won him the praise and respect of his opponents and the fans. This was particularly the case following a meeting between Lazio and SSC Napoli on September 26 of 2012, during which Klose confessed to the referee having scored a goal with his hand.

Reception

In the football world and mostly between German fans, Miroslav Klose is highly considered to be one of the best strikers of the country and his awesome records could be proof for that claim. Some of the noteworthy records he currently holds include FIFA World Cup men's all-time record goalscorer with 16 goals, Germany national team all-time record goalscorer with 71 goals, the only footballer to have had four or more (consecutive) World Cup medals, only men's footballer to have played in four or more (consecutive) semi-finals in World Cups, one of eight players in Serie A history to score five goals in one match and many more.

Related Article: 

Goal Celebration

Miroslav Klose often celebrated his goals with a somersault forward, which earned him the nickname "Salto-Klose". He later renounced it due to the risk of injury, however he showed the somersault again for important goals during his career.

Miroslav Klose Outside Football

After retiring from playing professional football, Miroslav had more time to spend with his family. However, after completing coaching courses and starting his job as a football coach, these days he is more and more involved with football again.

He had also a role in the rock band Room77’s music video named Hope alongside his former teammates Philipp Lahm and Mario Gomez.

He is also very passionate about angling and during his spare times, he does it regularly. Angling is a method of fishing that is done with a hook. The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the latter itself attached to a fishing rod.

Stay tuned to read more about Miroslav Klose biography and

Miroslav Klose life story

.

Related Article: 

Miroslav Klose Personal Life

Miroslav Klose is the son of German-born soccer player Josef Klose and the former Polish handball national team player Barbara Jeż and he is born in the Upper Silesian Opole, in Poland. His father belonged to the German minority in Poland. A few months after Miroslav Klose's birth, his father received a contract as a professional footballer with AJ Auxerre and the family moved to France for almost six years.

After his father spell at France, the family returned to Opole, and in 1987 all of the family including the parents and his 11-years old sister Marzena and 9-years old Miroslav immigrated to Germany. They settled in the city of Kusel, 40 km from Kaiserslautern in Rhineland-Palatinate

There he attended the local secondary school and then completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter. He then devoted himself primarily to football, initially as an amateur and later as a professional athlete.

On February 28, 2018, he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Opole.

Family, Children and Relationships

On December 31, 2004, when Miroslav Klose was 26 years old, he married his wife Sylwia. They have two twin sons, Luan and Noah, born on January 30, 2005. His wife Sylwia is a native of Poland.

Klose is considered to be very attached to the home. He often speaks Polish with his family or colleagues, like his former national team colleague Lukas Podolski, who is also from Poland. In addition to Polish and German, he is fluent in Italian and English. He was also able to speak French in his childhood but has forgotten it over time.

He and his family are members of the Roman Catholic Church. Klose was an altar boy and carol singer. Klose and his wife were in a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI on March 6, 2012, in the Vatican.

Related Article: 

Philanthropy

Miroslav Klose is very active when it comes to charitable activities. Since 2005, Klose has been the patron of the Ronald McDonald House in Homburg for families with seriously ill children, which he helped to open. He volunteered for the German bone marrow donor database and advertised stem cell donation nationwide on posters in 2008 and 2010.

Klose and many of his teammates was supporting the Champions for Charity. Champions for Charity is a joint initiative of the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation and the Michael Schumacher-inspired Keep Fighting Foundation. The two foundations have teamed up to raise awareness of their programs through fundraising activities such as charity events like soccer matches.

Legal Issues

Klose is one of the footballers who always put their concentration on the pitch and have a rather quiet life. Some fans even gave him the nickname of “The Quiet One”. There are no records of legal issues for him so far. He was also known for his honesty and fair play during his playing career.

Stay tuned to read more about

Miroslav Klose biography

and career statistics.

Related Article: 

Miroslav Klose Career Statistics

Miroslav Klose is one of the players who decided to retire from playing football in a time that many believed he can play for a few more seasons. Although his club career is not as great as his international career, however, he has scored some great goals and also provided many assists to his teammates during his around 18 years playing career.

In this section, we want to take a look at Miroslav Klose’s career statistics both on the club and international level.

Club

As we said before, Klose started off his professional football career at the German club FC 08 Homburg, where he was able to score 11 goals in 33 matches for both the first and second team. However, he was much more prolific in the second team of FC 08 Homburg.

In 1999, Klose signed for the 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and between 1999 and 2004, he made 120 league appearances for them, scoring 44 goals. During his spell at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, he has also played 50 matches for 1. FC Kaiserslautern II, scoring 26 goals.

His three-season spell with Werder Bremen is considered by many to be the best days of his club career. Between 2004 and 2007, Miroslav Klose scored 53 goals for the club in 89 Bundesliga matches. In Werder Bremen Klose was also great at providing assists to him teammates and topped the assists charts in one season.

After moving to German giants

, Miroslav Klose wasn’t able to repeat his great performances in Werder Bremen and only managed to score 24 matches for the min 98

matches. Because of his poor performances and lack of goals for Munich team, his contract was not extended and he moved to Italian side Lazio on a free transfer in 2011.

His last club before retiring from professional football was Lazio, where he played for 5 seasons between 2011 and 2016. He was able to score 54 goals for Lazio in 139 Serie A matches. In May of 2016, Klose announced his retirement from playing football.

International

Klose could choose between three national teams: Germany, where he had lived since he was 7 and his father had his roots, Poland, where he was born and where his mother came from, and France, where he lived six years after he was born. Eventually, he decided to play for the Germany national team, where he was able to establish himself as one of the greatest strikers to ever play for them. 

Klose made his debut in the German national team on March 24, 2001, in Leverkusen when they beat

. The match was 1-1, but before the end, he scored the decisive goal to make it 2-1. At the soccer World Cup in 2002, he was runner-up with the

and received the silver shoe for the tournament's second-best goalscorer for his five World Cup goals, all of which he scored with his head. No other player has scored five headed goals at a World Cup. He already scored all goals in the group stage and he headed three of them in the 8-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the first group game.

Between 2001 and 2014, Miroslav Klose was able to score 71 goals in 137 matches for his country. He is the leading top goal scorer for Germany.

Related Article:

Miroslav Klose Honors

During his career, Miroslav Klose has won many club and individual awards and holds many records to his name, the latter mostly on the international level with Germany. Of his major club honors we can name DFB-Ligapokal with Werder Bremen in 2006, two Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, two DFB-Pokal titles with Bayern and one Coppa Italia with

. With Germany national team, Miroslav Klose was runners-up at 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2008 UEFA European Championship and he also has won the 2014 FIFA World Cup at

with Germany. 

With 71 goals, Klose holds the record for most international goals in the German national team. In the ranking of the most successful goal scorers of all national teams, he is only behind of six players including Ali Daei (109), Cristiano Ronaldo (102), Ferenc Puskás (84), Pelé (77), Sándor Kocsis and Bashar Abdullah (75 each) and four Players whose goals are sometimes not taken into account by FIFA. In the 21st century, only Cristiano Ronaldo scored more international goals than him. Klose scored 32 international goals after his 30th birthday. No German player scored more goals at this age.

Read More:

Follow

 for