Klose takes Golden Shoe
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-07-11 09:05

After 64 games packed with goals and non-stop action, Germany's Miroslav Klose carried off the adidas Golden Shoe award as the top scorer at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany.

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Germany's Miroslav Klose (L) and Philipp Lahm celebrate after their World Cup 2006 third place soccer match against Portugal in Stuttgart July 8, 2006.[Reuters]

The striker notched five goals in seven matches to take his total FIFA World Cup tally to ten.

Finishing in second and third place respectively were Argentina's Hernan Crespo and Brazil's Ronaldo, providing both with some consolation for exiting the tournament at the quarter-final stage.

Although the two were tied on three goals and one assist each, it was Crespo who took the silver having spent just 305 minutes on the pitch compared with 409 for Ronaldo.

Klose's five-goal tally is the lowest winning total since the 1962 FIFA World Cup, not that it makes his achievement any less worthy. With two goals against Costa Rica, a further brace against Ecuador and a fine header in the quarter-final with Argentina, Klose moved into third place in the list of top German goalscorers at the FIFA World Cup finals.

Ronaldo, who beat Klose to the coveted award at Korea/Japan 2002, will take away another unforgettable memory from Germany 2006. His three goals took him past German striking legend Gerd Muller to move to the top of the all-time FIFA World Cup scoring charts with 15 goals.

The Golden Shoe is awarded to the top scorer at the FIFA World Cup. In case of a tie, the positions are decided by the number of assists made by each player during the tournament. If two players are still tied, the one who has played the least number of minutes will be declared the winner. The FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) decides which assists should count as such.