Miroslav Kolsav (2001-present,131 caps,68 goals)

Such was the ease that Gerd Muller seemed to find the back of the net for Germany, it appeared that no player was ever going to get close to his 68-goal record. Klose, though, has blown that theory out of the water in recent years and going into this World Cup, the Lazio centre-forward needs just one goal to become Germany's leading goalscorer of all time.

What's even more remarkable is the number of important goals that he has scored. Again like Muller, he has found the net 14 times at World Cups - only the Brazilian Ronaldo has more goals to his name. However, Klose is the only player to have scored four or more goals in three tournaments.

Trophies may have eluded him at international level, but he has tasted success with Bayern Munich, winning both the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal on two occasions. Among his individual honours, Klose was named the German Footballer of the Year in 2006.