Miroslav Klose retires: Germany’s all-time leading goalscorer officially hangs up his boots to go into coaching
Former Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Lazio forward calls its quits after netting astounding 71 goals for his country
GERMANY'S all-time leading goalscorer Miroslav Klose has offically retired from football - to become a coach for his national team.
The former Bayern Munich and Lazio forward, 38, turned out a whopping 137 times for the German side, scoring a mind-boggling 71 goals.
Klose, currently without a club after leaving Lazio at the end of last season, tops a list of superstars including Gerd Muller, Jurgen Klinsmann, Rudi Voller and Lukas Podolski.
He netted his first ever goal for his country in March 2001, scoring the winner on his debut against Albania in the 88th minute.
He was prolific every season since that fateful day, including netting 13 goals in 2006, 12 in 2002 and 10 in 2010.
Overall his goals per game ratio of 0.52 goals per game will go down as one of the most impressive in history.
On top of his international heroics - where he also holds the record for most World Cup goals ever with 16 - he was equally lethal at club level.
He netted 52 times in 147 games for Kaiserslautern, 63 times in 132 games for Bremen, 53 times in 149 games for Bayern and 64 goals in 170 games at Serie A side Lazio.
Klose won the Bundesliga twice in 2008 and 2010 at Munich, as well as the DFB-Pokal twice - in the same seasons.
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Miroslav Klose's accomplishments
Germany top scorer: 71
World Cup top scorer: 16
World Cup winner: 1
Bundesliga winner: 2
DFB-Pokal winner: 2
Coppa Italia winner: 1
German Footballer of the Year: 1
World Cup Golden Shoe: 1
World Cup Best XI: 2
He got his hands on the Coppa Italia during his stint at Lazio as well as winning the World Cup in 2014 with Germany.
The star striker also got his hands on a host of individual awards, including the World Cup Golden Shoe in 2006 - after netting five goals - the German Footballer of the Year and the Bundesliga top scorer... Both also in 2006.
However, after leaving Lazio as their seventh-highest all time scorer, he has been without a club and has now decided to swap playing for coaching as Germany announced on Twitter he would be training for his coaching badges.
They wrote: "Welcome back, Miro! Miroslav #Klose returns to #DieMannschaft to begin his coaching career with a #DFB trainee programme. More to follow..."