Miroslav Klose an unlikely German World Cup legend

Miroslav Klose will play in his second World Cup final tomorrow, a dozen years after his first. Only one other player has featured in two that have been separated by such time. He was a striker, too. He is best known by his nickname: Pele.

Germany's forward Miroslav Klose celebrates after scoring during the semi-final football match between Brazil and Germany at The Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte  on July 8, 2014. An afterthought when the tournament began, Klose has once again worked his way to a prominent post. Adrian Dennis / AFP
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Miroslav Klose will play in his second World Cup final on Sunday, a dozen years after his first.

Only one other player has featured in two that have been separated by such time. He was a striker, too. He appeared in 1958 and 1970. He is best known by his nickname: Pele.

They are an unlikely pair, Klose and Pele. One did not score in the Bundesliga until he was 22. The other is the most celebrated footballer ever.

They have been mentioned in the same sentence before, though. In the 2010 tournament, the German bettered the Brazilian’s career tally of 12 World Cup goals. For good measure, he passed France’s Just Fontaine, too.

Now he has accelerated past Gerd Muller and Ronaldo to stand alone.

Stardom is not always measured in statistics. Not in football, anyway, unlike some other sports.

Pele, Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff and Zinedine Zidane all have impressive numbers and sizeable medal collections, but their importance lies in their influence, their legacy, their aura, their style.

No one, least of all Klose himself, would bracket him with the greats, but he is now the greatest scorer in World Cup history. Come Sunday night, he could be a World Cup winner, too.

He was already a history maker before the close-range finish against Brazil on Tuesday. As it was the first of four goals in six minutes in the hosts’ historic humiliation, it attracted less attention than would otherwise have been the case.

His record-breaking 69th goal for Germany, in June’s World Cup warm-up against Armenia, demoted Muller from the record books. The 68 Germany goals for “Der Bomber” came in just 62 games. Klose’s 71 have taken a more stately 136.

He is a link between very different eras. He is the sole survivor of the German team touted as the worst in their history but who reached the 2002 final against Brazil.

Now he is the old-timer, the remnant of the days before the golden generation, but longevity has helped make the legend – and make no mistake, Klose is a legend

He is the unassuming star, the inspiration to everyman footballers everywhere. He has made the most of the gifts he has.

None of his 16 World Cup goals came from more than 10 metres out. The remarkable similarity in distances is testament to what he can do: head in crosses, anticipate rebounds, find space in crowded penalty areas and finish coolly when a chance arrives.

Klose lacks quickness, he rarely beats a man and he certainly does not exude class.

He is no real stylist, and he was not earmarked for excellence at an early age.

When he was 19, he was a part-time footballer who was training to be a carpenter and was sent off on his professional debut.

This was no Messi-esque prodigy; indeed, the only hint of flair came in his trademark frontflip celebration, and that looks vaguely comical in his old age.

He is 36 and, while his club career includes more than 200 goals, his reputation is as a specialist in the international game.

Klose became the first man to score five goals in successive World Cups – which has since been emulated by his teammate Thomas Muller – and mustered another four in the 2010 tournament, as many as he managed in two seasons of Bundesliga football from 2009 to 2011.

He began Euro 2012 on the bench and forced his way back into the team. The same has happened in this World Cup.

Klose is a self-made footballer, and he has made himself indispensable. Born in communist Poland, albeit to a father of Germanic stock, he was not destined for eminence and was an even less likely candidate for Die Mannschaft.

The outsider became integral, launching the revival in 2002, before making German and World Cup history. Now, the scorer supreme has only one remaining goal.

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