Football season, this sure is.
The ongoing FIFA World Cup 2014 also brings with it a chance to see #MyRoleModel Miroslav Klose - the German forward football player.
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Born Miroslav Josef Klose, he is currently the joint top goal scorer in FIFA World Cup. And only the third player to score in 4 different & successive World Cups.
Is that what makes him #MyRoleModel?
To kick-off, yes.
I know, regular readers / followers know I am a born German football fan. But, that is not the reason Klose makes it as my role model. Common, stop diving, will you?
To take it forward, here are the reasons he inspires me & scores to become the role model:
Leadership:
What is being bestowed with talent & goodness, if it cannot be channelized for larger good? That is one of my fundamental guiding principles or life yardsticks.
In a football field, its often leadership & ability to galvanize that make mid-field and forward players a rare and sought after breed.
Klose is a soft, subtle but natural and inspirational leader.
The German National football team has never lost a football match in which Klose has scored. Enough said.
Consistency:
Excellence, by itself doesn't catapult one to iconic status. Consistency, combined, with excellence does.
With 70 goals in 130+ matches, Klose is currently Germany's current top all- time goal scorer.
He is also one of only two players, along with Peruvian Teófilo Cubillas, to have scored at least five goals in two different World Cups, as well as the only player to have scored at least four in three different tournaments.
Character - Fairplay:
More than anything else, this is what makes him a crowning glory as #MyRoleModel.
Values and character that have shown through as much as his achievements.
The closest Klose has gotten to a 'controversy' is, remarkably, the types football legends and football folklore is made of.
In a fiercely competitive and lucrative sport, where a vital goal can bestow divine status and herald fortunes richer than National Governments! Therefore, most players, hook or crook, want to get there. Yes, remember the Hand of God goal?
Now, replay this:
On 30 April 2005, whilst playing for the club Werder Bremen, Klose refused to accept a penalty given against goal-keeper Arminia Bielefeld due to it being incorrect. Klose walked up to the referee and said the goalee had handled the ball first. He was later given a fair play award for this unprecedented display of character. Football rose a few notches as a sport to inspire youngsters watching the game. Football's humanity gest!
Lest you think it was a fluke, he followed it up in true Champion style:
At the end of September 2012, Klose scored a goal using his hand, inadvertently, in the flow of play, against Napoli. Klose admitted this to the referee, who then took back his decision for the goal, spared Klose from a yellow card and shook his hand.
Head over Heels:
Anyone can be successful - especially in ruthlessly commercial times, all the more so in Sports, in our era. But to be successful embodying those aforesaid traits, now that is something! That truly is head over heels for a footballer famously told, after the 2006 Golden Boot award that he should have been given the 'Golden Head' award (a jocular reference to him having scored most of the goals from head-butts rather than the foot).
Mr. Goody Two Shoes:
On a lighter note, talking of 'model' in the 'Role Model', Klose comes with chocolate boy modeling looks :) What strikes as 'Mr.Goody Two Shoes', what say?
I have never failed to notice his clean cut and glowing face, much a reflection of an akin personality / character.
Photo Courtesy
I am writing about #MyRoleModel as a part of the activity by Gillette India in association with "Blogadda.com".
Cheers :)