Germany striker Miroslav Klose joined Brazil's Ronaldo as the all-time top scorer in World Cup finals with 15 goals, when he found his country's equaliser against Ghana in the 71st minute in Fortaleza on Saturday.
And Ronaldo, who had also scored his 15th World Cup goal against Ghana back in 2006, congratulated the 36-year-old for reaching the milestone.
"Welcome to the club, Klose," Ronaldo tweeted from his official account @ClaroRonaldo. "I can imagine how happy you must be right now. What a great World Cup!"
Klose, Germany's all-time leading goal scorer, came off the bench and made an immediate impact. He scored the equaliser with his first touch to help the three-time champions salvage a point on Saturday.
The 36-year-old, playing what is surely his last World Cup, is now just one short of beating Ronaldo and topping the charts. That moment can happen in this World Cup as the 1990 winners remain favourites to advance to the Round of 16 from Group G.
Klose, who celebrated the historic feat with his trademark full 360 degree somersault, was quite pleased with his performance at the biggest stage.
"It doesn't matter whether I play from the start or come off the bench: all games are important and 15 goals in 20 World Cup games isn't bad," Klose pointed out.
"Of course it's something very special for me, there's no doubt about that. But the most important thing is that I was able to help my team."
The Opole-born is the second German player after Uwe Seeler to score in four World Cups. Klose registered his name on scoresheet in his World Cup finals appearances in Korea and Japan (2002), Germany (2006), South Africa (2010) and now Brazil.
And the star striker, when asked about his favourite goal, pointed out his equaliser against Argentina in the quarterfinals in 2006, without any hesitation.
"I think it'd have to be the equaliser against Argentina in the quarter-finals in 2006 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. It meant we went to penalties, which we then won."
Klose, who is known as a man of few words, allowed team manager Oliver Bierhoff to elucidate further.
"You could see that by the way he celebrated the goal," Bierhoff said. "It was also an important one for us, which makes the whole thing that much nicer."
