In Brazil, Miroslav Klose can set two new World Cup records: He needs two more goals to overtake Ronaldo's all-time goalscoring record of 15; and if he plays in seven games he will become Germany's most capped player.
Klose has been a figurehead of a new Germany and, at the same time, the last surviving member of the dark age of the country's troubles on the international stage. But does the veteran striker have those records in him?
Born on June 9, 1978 in Opole, Poland, his parents Josef and Barbara left for Germany when he was eight. His father Josef had German roots, not uncommon in Silesia, which had been a part of Germany until the horrors of World War II.
The Klose family were one of thousands and thousands of late repatriates to leave Poland for Germany at the time the Iron Curtain slowly crumbled away. And he would become the spearhead of the wave of immigrants making it into the Germany team. With Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Lukas Podolski, Jerome Boateng and Ilkay Gundogan, modern Germany is reflected in the current national football team.
"I still remember how we waited in front of that barrier that divided us from Germany," Klose he told Zeit. "I knew new experiences were waiting for me, but I did not know what they were."
The Kloses settled in Kusel, a small town in the south-west of Germany. Miroslav's father, a former winger at Polish first division team Odra Opole and French club AJ Auxerre, worked as a lathe operator and his mother, a Poland handball international, became a cleaner. And their boy started playing football for local club SG Blaubach-Diedelkopf. However, he didn't catch the attention of scouts from the big clubs. Once, he was invited to a week-long training course for a regional representative team; Klose was sent home after the first evening, not considered good enough. That is an indictment of the state of German scouting in the late 90s, but he fought his way into professional football regardless.
In 1998, aged 20, Klose joined third-division side FC Homburg. He mainly featured in Homburg's reserves, where he scored 10 in only 15 games -- and caught the attention of 1.FC Kaiserslautern. In his five years there, he scored 44 league goals in 120 games, but left the financially troubled club in 2004 -- bound for Werder Bremen and became much more prolific, netting 53 in 89 Bundesliga appearances.
During his Bremen days, at the time of the 2006 World Cup, Klose was already a well-seasoned international. He had made his Germany debut at the fairly young age of 22, in March 2001, in a World Cup qualifier against Albania. Over a decade later and ahead of his trip to Brazil, he has won 131 caps and scored 68 goals for his adopted country.
The first came only 15 minutes into his first match: a last-gasp winner for a team which had started with the likes of Jens Nowotny, Christian Worns, Jens Jeremies and Carsten Ramelow. "That was the team I grew up in, it was a great experience for me as a young player," Klose told Zeit. "Today is different: I have played in loads of tournaments, and all other players are younger than me."
In 2002, during the World Cup in Korea and Japan, Klose scored five goals including three in the opening match against Saudi Arabia, every single one with his head -- a record which still stands.
Klose scored goal after goal in World Cups, qualifiers and friendlies. But all the while he was heavily criticised for only scoring against the minor teams. Then, in the 2006 World Cup quarterfinal against Argentina, he silenced those doubters. His equaliser took Germany to extra-time and penalties, and, in the end, to the semifinals, where the fairytale ended in a 2-0 extra-time defeat to eventual-champions Italy. In the finals on home soil he scored five, winning the Golden Boot to silence those who had doubted his abilities.
Over the following years, the Germany squad got younger and younger, the system changed, but Klose remained a constant. Even during his time at Bayern Munich, when his form began to slip, he was still called up to Die Nationalmannschaft by coach Joachim Loew. And so, in 2010, he was given his third shot at the World Cup title.
In South Africa, despite his sending off in the second group game against Serbia, Klose scored another four, lifting his World Cup tally to 14 goals in 19 games -- one behind Brazil's Ronaldo, who scored 15 in 19 games.
During his last two years at Bayern, whom he had joined in 2007, he scored only four goals in 45 league games and chose a different challenge with Lazio in 2011. Far from finding a retirement home, Klose showed the desire to work hard and continue his development. Indeed, during his first training session in Rome, Klose would be the man who collected up the training balls -- and stunned the Italian media. "I might have a different understanding of the term 'football star'," he said in quotes reported by FAZ. "If I shoot a few balls after training, it's perfectly normal that I collect them afterwards."
In his first two seasons at Lazio, Klose scored 27 league goals and became a key member of the team. In his third season, age took its toll and he missed several weeks through injury, although still managed to score seven times in 25 Serie A games. That was enough to earn him a new contract until the summer of 2015.
Unlike Mario Gomez, who also struggled for fitness in Italy, Klose received another invitation to the World Cup for 2014. "I think, this will be my last tournament," he recently told Tagesspiegel. But he will give it his all to finish his international career on a high.
This summer, he will be the only real striker in Loew's squad. Despite that, he is not a guaranteed starter. The likes of Mario Goetze, Marco Reus, Ozil and Thomas Mueller have all played in central attack in recent years -- but Klose does not want to go to Brazil as a tourist. "I can also play as the false nine," he added. "In the end, it's down to the coach. I want to train hard so that there will be no way past me. I'd like to think that I'll play."
And so, a week after his 36th birthday, Klose will begin his latest, and last, record hunt when Germany take on Portugal in their first Group G match: At least two more goals, maybe seven more games; the Ronaldo goal tally and maybe even the Lothar Matthaeus record of 25 World Cup appearances.
"Anyone who knows me, knows that the Ronaldo record is, of course, a goal of mine, but the most important thing is the team," Klose said. "I am convinced that when the team plays well, the attackers will have chances to score -- and that's why I will have the chance to score."
Back in 2012, Klose spoke about another target for this summer. "I have one big goal left in me: To finally win a title with the national team. That title is still missing," Klose told FAZ. "I will do all I can for the team. I want to lift that trophy once. To, in the end, not have to say: 150 caps but no title."
Because of his determination, his experience, and his ability to strike goals out of nowhere, Loew will hand him the chance to make his dreams come true. Indeed, he can kill two birds with one strong: if he goes past the Matthaeus milestone it will mean he has a chance of getting his hands on the World Cup trophy too.