The senior member of Joachim Löw's Nationalmannschaft, Miroslav Klose turns 34 on the day of Germany's opening UEFA EURO 2012 fixture against Portugal. A phenomenally consistent marksman for his country, he moved closer to Gerd Müller's national record of 68 international goals by scoring on every one of his six UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying appearances.

• Born in Opole, Poland, Klose made his first major impact at Bundesliga level with 1. FC Kaiserslautern before joining then German champions SV Werder Bremen in 2004.

• Left Bremen for FC Bayern München in 2007 and enjoyed a successful debut season, winning the domestic double − the first major honours of his career. Largely used from the bench, he registered six goals in all competitions as Bayern won the Bundesliga/German Cup double again in 2009/10.

• Germany's top scorer at the 2002 FIFA World Cup with five goals − all headers in the group phase, including a hat-trick against Saudi Arabia on his tournament debut.

• Went into the 2006 World Cup in Germany as the Bundesliga's leading marksman, having struck 25 times for Bremen, and scored another five goals to become the tournament's Golden Boot winner.

• Added two more at UEFA EURO 2008 as Germany reached the final and also scored a vital winner in Russia that sealed the Nationalmannschaft's place at the 2010 World Cup finals, where he once again excelled.

• Scored four goals, including two in a 4-0 win against Argentina, his 100th cap, at the 2010 World Cup; ended the tournament second on the all-time scorers' list, level with compatriot Gerd Müller and one behind Ronaldo (15).

• Prolific in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying with nine goals in six appearances, he opted to experience club football outside of Germany with a move in June 2011 to S.S. Lazio, for whom he scored on his European and Serie A debuts.

UEFA honours
UEFA European Championship: runner-up 2008
UEFA Champions League: runner-up 2010