Klose joins elite German club with 50th international goal

Bloemfontein: Miroslav Klose followed in the footsteps of the legendary Gerd Mueller when he scored his 50th international for Germany in his side`s 4-1 defeat of England in the World Cup football here.

The Polish-born striker opened the scoring in the Round of 16 tie at the Free State Stadium to become the first German player to reach the milestone since Mueller achieved the feat in his country`s 1972 European championship final victory over the Soviet Union. The `Bomber` went on to amass 68 goals in just 62 appearances for Germany while Klose reached the mark on his 99th international appearance. The only other German to reach the 50-goal total in international football was Joachim Streich, who scored 55 times for the German Democratic Republic. Klose`s second goal of the tournament also sees the 32-year-old Bayern Munich striker move second in the all-time list of Germany goalscorers at a World Cup.Mueller tops the list with 14 goals, followed by 2006 Golden Boot winner Klose on 12 and Juergen Klinsmann on 11. Brazil`s Ronaldo tops the all-time list with 15 goals. IANS