Miroslav Josef Klose (born 9 June 1978) is a German retired professional footballer who last played as a striker for Italian club Lazio and Germany. He is currently a member of the Germany national team’s coaching staff.
Throughout his career, Miroslav Klose often stood out for his fair play and honesty in addition to his skill and goalscoring as a footballer.
At the end of September 2012, Klose scored a goal using his hand for Lazio against Napoli. He admitted this to the referee, who took back his decision to award the goal, spared Klose from a yellow card and shook his hand.
After the Germany striker’s admission, the match official retracted his decision to award Lazio a goal and instead the game restarted with a Napoli free-kick. Klose’s team ended up losing the game 3-0 but the forward won many admirers for his honesty.
Later that year, he was once again given a fair play award for his actions by the German Football Association, later commenting, “The referee asked me if I had touched the ball with my hand and it was not a problem for me to answer ‘yes’. There are many youngsters who watch football on TV and we are role models for them.” In 2016, he was given the Sport Ethics Award for his honesty at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, and subsequently added regarding the incident, “Napoli? For me it was easy, it’s my character. We need to set an example, … If I can even help out the referees, I will do so willingly.”
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