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| Miroslav Klose has dismissed fears of a possible striker crisis at the German national team in the wake of his international retirement as "nonsense." The all-time World Cup top scorer Klose told Die Zeit weekly, in an interview made available ahead of Thursday's publication, that coach Joachim Loew has enough players up front to make up for his departure. "Mario Gomez will return and can take over my place. Mario Goetze and Thomas Mueller will shape the team for years to come with their extraordinary talent," Klose said, naming the debate "nonsense." Fiorentina forward Gomez is seeking a return to the team after missing the World Cup for injury reasons. Mueller scored five goals at the Brazil tournament and his Bayern Munich team-mate Goetze bagged the winner in the final against Argentina after coming on for Klose. The 36-year-old Klose announced recently that he would end his international career. He won 137 caps, scoring a German record 71 goals and becoming World Cup top scorer with 16 goals overall from four tournaments thanks to two goals in Brazil. Klose joins captain Philipp Lahm and defender Per Mertesacker in international retirement. The three will be honoured on September 3 around Germany's friendly with Argentina, but won't play in the game in Dusseldorf for which Loew will announce his squad on Friday. "The prospect of watching from the stand makes me a bit uneasy. It is not easy to get it out of my head," Klose said. Klose added that he is nonetheless "happy" about his decision, and plans to live in Germany (Munich) again when he ends his playing career. Klose's contract at Italy's Lazio is until 2015 but it is not known whether he will retire then. | |||
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