Will Germany's Klose Become Top Scorer in World Cup History?

The reigning top goalscorer of all World Cups Ronaldo was speaking at a ceremony in Fortaleza last week. Brazil's former star had a special request for the fans in the location which is set to host Germany's game against Ghana next week. Ronaldo asked the fans to cast a spell on Miroslav Klose, Germany's veteran striker, so that he won't score.

The Silent Bomber

Miroslav Klose turned 36 last week, just one year younger than Ronaldo, this will be his fourth World Cup. His 2002 debut saw Klose scoring a hat-trick in the Mannschaft's opening game against Saudi Arabia. From here, it was upwards for "Miro".

A dominant striker with excellent finishing skills, the 2010 World Cup saw Klose rising to become the second highest scorer in World Cup history, surpassing Germany's greatest goalscorer Gerd Muller, "Der Bomber", but Klose is a modest man, having asked not to even be mentioned with Muller on the same breathe.

Just Two Goals to Go

Currently, Ronaldo leads the table of top World Cup goalscorers with 15 goals to his name; Klose has 14 goals and he needs just two to pass the Brazilian. He would then reign in that position for long, as there aren't any active players who pose a serious threat to these numbers nowadays except for Spain's David Villa who would have to score more than 7 goals.

Kickoff Tonight

Germany meets Portugal today (5pm UK time) for the Group G opener, and while it's not 100% clear whether Klose will open or not, we can expect to see a top performance from this player. Speaking about the possible breaking of Ronaldo's record, Klose stated that his team comes first, but also said: "The record is something that keeps me going at this level - it would mean the world to me."