Soccer: Striker's destiny Klose at hand

Argentina's goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri and Germany's Miroslav Klose jump for the ball. Picture / Reuters

Miroslav Klose took up football in an effort to be accepted in Germany, a country in which he felt, and was, a stranger. By the end of Germany's epic penalty shoot-out victory over Argentina yesterday, he had succeeded beyond imagination.

At eight, Klose was a lonely immigrant boy, trying to make friends through football after his family moved to West Germany from Poland.

Just as improbably, at 22 his only involvement with professional football was as a spectator, watching Kaiserslautern from the terraces when not playing in the part-time regional leagues. Then Kaiserslautern's amateur division signed him.

Within nine months he had won his first cap and, within two seasons, he was runner-up to Ronaldo as Golden Boot at the 2002 World Cup, with five goals - a total he has matched this time.

It was a meteoric rise and Klose's form dipped as he struggled to cope with his new status, going goalless in Germany's disastrous Euro 2004 campaign. He persevered and, in this World Cup on home soil, has also forged a lethal partnership with Lukas Podolski, making both goals for the younger striker - also Polish-born - in the victory against Sweden.

He has been linked with a move away from Werder Bremen, even though he has three years left on his contract and they have again qualified for the Champions' League.

At 28 - his birthday was on the opening day of the tournament - he is at his peak and his next move is the one that should set him up for life. Yet Klose drives a modest car, is devoted to his wife and twin children, scandal-free, dedicated to his profession, and popular with fans, press and team-mates. He has, though, become more assertive in this tournament, perhaps due to his status as senior striker, perhaps due to the influence of coach Jurgen Klinsmann's can-do approach.

"It's bad luck for Argentina to meet us," Klose said before the match, "because we want to reach the next round - and we will beat them."

Klose's form is a major factor in Germany's rise this year, even if critics note that his 10 World Cup goals have generally come against weak opposition (three against Saudi Arabia, two each against Costa Rica and Ecuador, one each against Cameroon and the Republic of Ireland).

There was nothing weak about his goal against Argentina, however. Klose has scored 29 times in 61 internationals and netted 25 goals in 26 Bundesliga appearances last season.

Klinsmann - one of Germany's most exalted strikers and a World Cup winner in 1990 - said: "He's at a decisive phase in his career, and what he does now is all down to him.

"This is an opportunity for him to step up to the next level. He's in his prime and is really hungry for goals."

Klinsmann's assistant Oliver Bierhoff, another to lead the German front line at the highest level, added: "Miro's transfer to Werder was very important for him, as was the birth of his two children. He has become more mature and self-confident. He knows that this World Cup is a real platform for him."

Klose has been lucky with his teachers and been a good learner. As well as Klinsmann and Bierhoff, he has been coached by Rudi Voller and Klaus Allofs, two other former international strikers. Some reports detailing the lengths gone to by Klinsmann to make sure his players are on song included the concept of homework.

Klose's task was to turn the light switches off in his house, using a football and his weaker left foot. He reported back that he had managed the task - and only at the cost of a vase and a picture. But his left foot has grown sharper - it was with his left that he scored against Ecuador.

Otto Rehhagel, the German manager of Greece, discovered Klose at Kaiserslautern.

Klose was born in 1978 in the Polish town of Opole. His father, Josef, had played in France, for Auxerre, and his mother represented Poland at handball. But Klose did not play organised football until the family moved west. "Football meant everything to me," he recalls.

"I just threw my stuff in the corner after school and raced to the park. I was always a little better than the others. That helped me integrate, and I made my first friends through football."

His World Cup exploits have since made him a good many more.

- INDEPENDENT