Bastian Schweinsteiger has long since shed the tag of the up-and-coming star of German football. Having rediscovered his best form just in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the 25-year-old is out to prove that, despite moving position, he still belongs among the world elite. The Bayern Munich man switched from the left wing to a central role last season and Germany coach Joachim Low looks likely to keep him in his new midfield slot.
The Bavaria-born player appears destined to become Germany’s next playmaker. ‘Schweini’, as he is known affectionately, has all the right qualities to pull the strings of the three-time world champions and step into Ballack’s boots over the next few years. Technically gifted, he has an outstanding footballing brain and with more than 70 international appearances is already highly experienced. In recent months, Schweinsteiger has also dramatically improved his tackling, and having proven his midfield mettle alongside Mark van Bommel for Bayern, the 1.83m player is eager to do likewise in a German shirt.
Schweinsteiger joined Bayern as a 14-year-old and has made it his home. His full debut in November 2002 heralded a career blessed with numerous domestic titles inside his first few seasons, and in which he has became one of the few home-grown players to hold onto a first-team shirt with the record German championship winners. If he earned something of a reputation for lacking the right attitude in the early years of his senior career, Schweinsteiger has long since matured into a top performer for the Munich club.
His international debut came in June 2004 in a 2-0 friendly defeat to Hungary in Kaiserslautern. Just four years later in May 2008, he was making his 50th senior appearance for Germany aged 23, writing himself into the history books of the German Football Association (DFB). His breakthrough on the international stage came at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup on home soil as he and Lukas Podolski stole the hearts of German fans with their outstanding performances and cavalier style. A year later at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, he was a creative force for then German coach Jurgen Klinsmann on the left wing and took the headlines in the match for third place against Portugal, scoring twice and setting up the third goal in a 3-1 victory.
Since then, Schweinsteiger has struggled to constantly live up to expectations. However, he was the matchwinner against Portugal again in the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2008, this time scoring once and creating the other two goals as Germany triumphed 3-2. And what was the most challenging phase of his career on the pitch must now be considered the most important, with the process of overcoming adversity instrumental in his new maturity. Now in his new role, he is more pivotal than ever before, something he will want to prove for posterity in South Africa.
Miroslav Klose- Date of Birth: 9 June 1978
- Height: 182 cm
- Shirt number: 11
- Position: Forward
- Current club: Bayern Munich (GER)
- International Caps: 100
- International Goals: 52
- First international: Germany - Albania
(24 March 2001)
Club History
- Werder Bremen (GER): From 2004 to 2007
- 1. FC Kaiserslautern (GER): From 2000 to 2004
- FC Homburg 08 (GER): From 1998 to 1999
An honest pro who shuns the trappings of stardom, Miroslav Klose has always let actions speak louder than words. The kind of player who can remain quite for long periods but then suddenly explode onto the scene with a vital goal, Klose has an exceptional strike rate for his country, especially at FIFA World Cup™ finals.
The Bayern Munich striker, who turns 32 a couple of days ahead of the 2010 tournament, remains a minor mystery to many observers. One of the game’s late developers, Klose started out in senior football with lower league amateurs SG Blaubach/Diedelkopf, only to ascend the career ladder with amazing alacrity. Nowadays, he only has the legendary Gerd Müller and former GDR striker Joachim Streich ahead of him in the all-time Germany scoring chart. He finished on five goals at both the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan and the 2006 finals on home soil.
Klose can operate as a classic target man, specialising in dragging defences out of position. Acknowledged as a genuinely superb header of the ball, he boasts a classic poacher’s instinct on the big occasion, largely explaining his proud record at major tournaments. The one caveat is fitness, the player himself admitting to a need to be in perfect condition in order to play to his potential.
The striker was born in the Polish town of Opole, but arrived in Germany as an eight-year-old. He is comfortably the most experienced man in Germany’s 2010 FIFA World Cup squad. Joachim Low will assuredly turn to Klose’s long record of service and stature in the dressing room this summer, despite the player’s relatively disappointing season for Bayern.
His career in the professional game began when he was 20 with a switch to the reserves at former Bundesliga outfit FC Homburg. Twelve months later, he moved to Kaiserslautern’s second-string team. His hard-working and prolific displays earned him promotion to the Bundesliga squad shortly afterwards. In the 2000/01 campaign, Klose finally achieved regular status with the Red Devils, and was snapped up by Werder Bremen in the summer of 2003.
He hit peak form in his third season with the north German giants, finishing as the league’s top scorer with 25 goals in just 26 Bundesliga appearances. He then joined the nation’s most successful club Munich in summer 2008, striking up a formidable partnership in the Bayern attack with Italy's FIFA World Cup winner Luca Toni.
The 2006 German Player of the Year has remained a modest and retiring character, enjoying a respectful and unsullied reputation among German fans. Never a moaner when things fail to go his way, Klose’s response has always been to work harder and seek to fix deficiencies in his game. "I'm basically a relaxed and honest guy, but that can change in an instant out on the field. I can be very direct when I have to be, but most of the time, I try and sort things out man to man," he told FIFA.com in late 2009.
Klose made his senior international debut in March 2001 in a 2-1 FIFA World Cup qualifying victory over Albania in Leverkusen, coming on fifteen minutes from the end and netting the crucial winning goal just two minutes from time. He has clocked up nearly 100 caps since then. He was a FIFA World Cup runner-up in 2002, came third in 2006, and was a UEFA EURO runner-up in 2008. He also claimed the adidas Golden Shoe as top scorer at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. All he is missing is the most-prized trophy of them all, and 2010 may be the year that is rectified.
