2010 FIFA World Cup: Does Miroslav Klose deserve more respect?
Take a glance down the World Cup all-time top-scorer list and the names of iconic players from football history will be revealed.
With Ronaldo, Gerd Müller, Just Fontaine and Pelé all featuring in the top places, the list is a who’s who of footballing greats that have graced the sport over the decades.
But one player who some believe doesn’t warrant a place among these footballing deities is a man who will finish the 2010 World Cup joint-top of that list should he score one more goal.
That man is Miroslav Klose -Germany’s 32-year-old striker with a proven knack for scoring at World Cup finals.
Currently on 14 World Cup goals, two more in the third-place play-off against Uruguay will see him overtake Brazil’s Ronaldo as the tournament’s most prolific striker.
So, why is there a feeling among some that Klose doesn’t deserve to be at the top of this coveted list?
The first factor must be that Klose is not a revered striker on the club-football circuit in the same way he is on the international scene. After scoring just three goals for Bayern Munich last season, it’s understandable that Klose is not spoken of in the same breath as the likes of David Villa, Samuel Eto’o or Wayne Rooney, for example.
Secondly, Klose has never won the World Cup. Although Germany have finished second, third and now either third again or fourth in the last three World Cups since he’s played, the Poland-born striker has never actually lifted football’s most prestigious trophy.
And then there are those who say that he’s notched up the majority of his 14 goals against relatively easy opponents – including three against Saudi Arabia at the 2002 World Cup finals.
Unlike lists for the top scorer in a particular club competition – such as the Champions League – or a regional international tournament – such as the Copa America – the World Cup’s top scorer, in the eyes of the football purist at least, should be occupied by one of the best strikers in history.
At the moment, it’s Ronaldo – arguably the best forward of the most recent generation and certainly one of the greatest ever, eclipsed only by Pelé by Brazilian standards.
Klose doesn’t carry the same untouchable reputation, despite his 14 World Cup goals; and it’s because of this that some are hoping Germany coach Joachim Löw leaves him on the bench for Saturday evening’s match against Uruguay.
But isn’t this all a bit unfair on Klose? He’s taken his chances whenever handed an opportunity and consistently shines when playing for his national side. His 14 World Cup goals may well have mostly been tap-ins or close-range headers; but he’s always been a reliable source of goals for Germany. Not to mention a striker that most international teams would relish having in their squad.
He’s a goalscorer’s goalscorer, always looking to create space for himself inside the box and, much in the same way as his compatriot Müller, a true centre-forward with an uncanny habit of being in the right place at the right time.
His movement to lose his marker is also exemplary, and unlike many other international strikers, Klose is also an unselfish forward, despite what his goalscoring record might suggest.
If anything, Klose should have already broken Ronaldo’s record by now. He’s spurned enough chances over the course of this summer’s tournament.
But he never allows the missed opportunities to get the better of him. And unlike most around him, isn’t particularly fussed about becoming the World Cup’s highest-ever scorer, anyway. He’d have much rather lifted the famous trophy if it meant sacrificing his own, individual accolades.
Klose may not be the most explosive striker in world football or the most prolific for his club side, but when it comes to the World Cup there are few better. And if he is to score a brace this Saturday against the Uruguayans and advance to the top of the all-time top scorer list, it will be no less than the natural-born international goalscorer deserves.
Even if the football purists claim otherwise.
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