Miroslav Klose made World Cup history on Tuesday with his 16th goal at the finals, but the striker declined to celebrate with his trademark salto, an airborne forward somersault. After the 36-year-old put Germany 2-0 up against Brazil in the Belo Horizonte semi-final he simply stretched his arms out wide, before sliding to his knees and disappearing into a huddle of joyous team-mates.
There was a good reason for not performing the acrobatic celebration, he explained afterwards. "I took a knock on my left foot and I wasn't feeling up to a salto," Klose told ZDF television, although the world was treated to the spectacular forward roll earlier in the tournament after his goal in the 2-2 draw with Ghana. On Tuesday the striker was full of praise for the Germany team following a gala display against the hosts: "We made a wonderful, wonderful start. The harmony in the team is obvious from our training sessions. We're a unit and that's how we perform out on the field."
Löw: An outstanding achievement
Head coach Joachim Löw led the chorus of praise for Klose: "It's an outstanding achievement. I'm happiest of all for him." In a classic footballing twist, Klose became the all-time leading scorer at the World Cup finals with a goal against Brazil, overtaking previous record holder Ronaldo, who was present at the stadium on behalf of Brazilian TV. However, the Lazio and Germany marksman played down the significance of his historic strike. "It's not the most important thing," he insisted in the build-up to the match.
16 WM-Tore von Miroslav Klose
Klose's performance against Brazil bore all the hallmarks of the centre-forward's craft: he ran hard, always looked for the ball and harried the Brazil defence high up the field. The striker covered 5.18 km in the first 45 minutes alone, before giving way to Andre Schürrle in the 58th minute.
The veteran is poised to earn his 137th cap on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro and is determined to lay hands on the trophy at the legendary Maracana. Klose is looking forward to a second outing at the arena, "although the new stadium doesn't quite have the allure of the old one before the renovation," he noted. Germany beat France 1-0 in the quarter-finals at the famous ground.
Klose's second record on Tuesday almost went unnoticed as he became the first man to contest a fourth World Cup semi-final. He is the only player in Löw's squad to feature in the 1-0 victory over South Korea in the last four back in 2002. However, he was on the losing side at the same stage at the tournament on home soil in 2006 and four years later in South Africa, in a 2-0 extra-time defeat to Italy and a 1-0 loss to Spain respectively. Klose has now evened up his semi-final record and moved onto 71 goals for his country for good measure.
Ronaldo unruffled
Ronaldo, scorer of both goals against Germany in the 2002 World Cup final, personally witnessed Klose put away his 16th World Cup goal by firing past keeper Julio Cesar at the second attempt. The previous top scorer remained calm and collected. "I'm not worried about losing the record,” the Brazil icon said before kick-off, "it won't hurt if Klose scores."
Klose is now keen to crown a glittering career with a victory over Argentina or the Netherlands in one of his favourite cities. He has already spent numerous family vacations at the Copacabana, he revealed. "Rio is a fantastic city. The statue of Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Tijuca rain forests are must-see attractions," he enthused.
One record will remain out of the seasoned striker's reach. The game on Tuesday took Klose onto 23 matches at the finals, level with Italy's Paolo Maldini in the all-time appearance list. The record of 25 is held by Germany's most-capped player Lothar Matthäus, and Klose can no longer match that. He will not shed any tears, provided he lays hands on the World Cup this Sunday.
created by sid/js
[bild1]
Miroslav Klose made World Cup history on Tuesday with his 16th goal at the finals, but the striker declined to celebrate with his trademark salto, an airborne forward somersault. After the 36-year-old put Germany 2-0 up against Brazil in the Belo Horizonte semi-final he simply stretched his arms out wide, before sliding to his knees and disappearing into a huddle of joyous team-mates.
There was a good reason for not performing the acrobatic celebration, he explained afterwards. "I took a knock on my left foot and I wasn't feeling up to a salto," Klose told ZDF television, although the world was treated to the spectacular forward roll earlier in the tournament after his goal in the 2-2 draw with Ghana. On Tuesday the striker was full of praise for the Germany team following a gala display against the hosts: "We made a wonderful, wonderful start. The harmony in the team is obvious from our training sessions. We're a unit and that's how we perform out on the field."
Löw: An outstanding achievement
Head coach Joachim Löw led the chorus of praise for Klose: "It's an outstanding achievement. I'm happiest of all for him." In a classic footballing twist, Klose became the all-time leading scorer at the World Cup finals with a goal against Brazil, overtaking previous record holder Ronaldo, who was present at the stadium on behalf of Brazilian TV. However, the Lazio and Germany marksman played down the significance of his historic strike. "It's not the most important thing," he insisted in the build-up to the match.
16 WM-Tore von Miroslav Klose
Klose's performance against Brazil bore all the hallmarks of the centre-forward's craft: he ran hard, always looked for the ball and harried the Brazil defence high up the field. The striker covered 5.18 km in the first 45 minutes alone, before giving way to Andre Schürrle in the 58th minute.
The veteran is poised to earn his 137th cap on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro and is determined to lay hands on the trophy at the legendary Maracana. Klose is looking forward to a second outing at the arena, "although the new stadium doesn't quite have the allure of the old one before the renovation," he noted. Germany beat France 1-0 in the quarter-finals at the famous ground.
Klose's second record on Tuesday almost went unnoticed as he became the first man to contest a fourth World Cup semi-final. He is the only player in Löw's squad to feature in the 1-0 victory over South Korea in the last four back in 2002. However, he was on the losing side at the same stage at the tournament on home soil in 2006 and four years later in South Africa, in a 2-0 extra-time defeat to Italy and a 1-0 loss to Spain respectively. Klose has now evened up his semi-final record and moved onto 71 goals for his country for good measure.
Ronaldo unruffled
Ronaldo, scorer of both goals against Germany in the 2002 World Cup final, personally witnessed Klose put away his 16th World Cup goal by firing past keeper Julio Cesar at the second attempt. The previous top scorer remained calm and collected. "I'm not worried about losing the record,” the Brazil icon said before kick-off, "it won't hurt if Klose scores."
Klose is now keen to crown a glittering career with a victory over Argentina or the Netherlands in one of his favourite cities. He has already spent numerous family vacations at the Copacabana, he revealed. "Rio is a fantastic city. The statue of Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Tijuca rain forests are must-see attractions," he enthused.
One record will remain out of the seasoned striker's reach. The game on Tuesday took Klose onto 23 matches at the finals, level with Italy's Paolo Maldini in the all-time appearance list. The record of 25 is held by Germany's most-capped player Lothar Matthäus, and Klose can no longer match that. He will not shed any tears, provided he lays hands on the World Cup this Sunday.
