100-cap Klose eager for goals

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With Miroslav Klose set to win his 100th cap against Argentina in Saturday's quarter-final, Germany coach Joachim Low insists the veteran striker is hungry for more FIFA World Cup™ success.

With a semi-final berth at stake, Klose will make his 100th appearance against Diego Maradona's side at Green Point Stadium and the Bayern Munich forward is looking for his third goal of the current tournament. He scored his 50th goal for Germany in last Sunday's 4-1 rout of England in the Round of 16, putting him third in the list of Germany's all-time goal-scorers.

The 32-year-old, who scored five at each of the last two finals, has now scored 12 goals in three FIFA World Cups - the same amount as Brazilian legend Pele - and he has said he wants to break Ronaldo's record of 15 at all finals.

His century of appearances makes him the joint-seventh most capped player to appear for Germany, but he still has a long way to go to beat Lothar Matthaeus' record of 150 caps.

Even after 100 caps he is still very hungry and ambitious for more success.

Joachim Low, Germany coach

"If someone has 100 caps, that is self-explanatory," said Low. "We can't praise him enough as he has scored 50 goals in that process, so he scores in every second game. Miroslav has recovered well in the last few years even, after he has had a bad patch for his club.

"You may sometimes think he is dithering and being self-critical, but he knows himself very well, he knows precisely what his level of fitness is and he is very modest, which I really appreciate about him. No matter what the victory is, he remains down to earth and handles things in a modest way. Even after 100 caps he is still very hungry and ambitious for more success."

Polish-born Klose comes to the World Cup on the back of a season spent warming the bench at Bayern Munich where he scored just three Bundesliga goals, but, having scored against England and Australia, he could yet match that tally here. He has said he wants to play on and help his country at the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament in Poland and the Ukraine.

"My main goal is to play at Euro 2012," said Klose. "I was born in Poland, have relatives there and love the country and the people. It would be nice to play a big tournament there once again."