Germany's Miroslav Klose and Brazil's Luiz Gustavo fight for the ball during the World Cup semifinal soccer match at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Tuesday, July 8, 2014. PTI
Belo Horizonte (Brazil), July 8: Germany's 36-year-old strike Miroslav Klose made history on Tuesday when he scored his 16th goal in the World Cup finals against hosts Brazil in the first semi-final of the 2014 edition here.
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Klose scored the second goal for his side against the hosts to go past Brazil's Ronaldo to become the highest scorer in the World Cup. He had overtaken his compatriot Gerd Muller (14 goals) in the group match against Ghana to equal Ronaldo. [Read: Klose equals Ronaldo, also see list of scorers]
In the 2002 World Cup, Klose scored five goals from header, becoming the first player in the history of the World Cup to achieve such a feat.
Klose took 23 games across four World Cups to achieve this feat. He is also the leading goalscorer for Germany with 71 goals in 136 games. Only former German captain Lothar Matthaus has played more World Cup games than Klose (25).
Germany have never lost in a game in which Klose has scored. On Tuesday, the clinical Germans thrashed Brazil 7-1. [Read here]