The record holder of highest goals scored in World Cup history, Germany’s Miroslav Klose said discipline is the key factor that has propelled him to the success.
In a news conference on Thursday the mercurial Germany forward revealed some facts that showed how discipline steers a player to the highest level. The 36-year-old striker, top scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals, opts to sleep early. He is accustomed to lull the children around 8:00pm and himself hits the sack at the same time.
He does not smoke and never accepts any invitation to a bar. Klose said he drinks, but it is a very rare case. “A life ruled by discipline, that’s what I like,” said the forward who scored Germany’s second goal in the 23rd minute in the 7-1 demolition of Brazil to break the the mark of 15 goals he shared with Brazilian great Ronaldo. His initial tap on a corner of Toni Kroos was parried away by Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar only to Klose again who calmly stroked the rebound home. Playing his fourth World Cup, he came off the bench to get Germany back into the contest against Ghana and scored the equaliser in the 2-2 draw.
When asked jokingly, if he will drink “about 12 beers or a caipirinha” if Germany becomes champion, Klose interrupted and said he never drank that much in his life.
“Almost never,” he pondered. Then responded with a curious phrase “I cannot guarantee anything. But if we win the trophy, so I can imagine that we will have a moment when, yes, I can really relax. The animal that likes to party is also inside me, but let’s see what will happen.”
Klose played his first World Cup in 2002 and since then the the 36-year-old featured for his country in all the next editions. The match on Sunday against Argentina will be his second World Cup final, the first been against Brazil in 2002, and likely to be his last World Cup match too. The record holder insisted he is focused on the best result possible at Maracana and surely it is not going to be a defeat.
“I savor every moment when I am in the middle of the park, I have gone through four different selection cycles, four national teams, I have controlled myself from being too much emotional, but emotions always appear. I have not celebrated my record yet as I am concentrating on it, I’ll enjoy it (the record) later. At the moment, I’m enjoying the World Cup and the duty is not finished yet,” Klose opined.
