Germany's Miroslav Klose matches World Cup goal record with timely equalizer against Ghana

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Coming into this World Cup just one shy of Brazilian Ronaldo's record of 15 career World Cup goals, it seemed only a matter of when Germany's Miroslav Klose would do it, not if. And the answer proved to be just two minutes after the 36-year-old stepped onto the pitch for his first appearance in the tournament, salvaging a 2-2 draw against Ghana.

[Related: Match report: Germany, Ghana ply best tie of the World Cup to date ]

Klose did not play in Germany's 4-0 win over Portugal, nor did he start in the match against Ghana. But when Ghana immediately came back from going 1-0 down in the 51st minute to take a 2-1 lead with an Asamoah Gyan goal in the 63rd minute, Klose was brought on as an emergency reinforcement. Just two minutes later, with his first touch of the ball, he poked in a corner kick deflected off a teammate's head to equalize for Germany in the 71st minute and match Ronaldo's record (for the sake of comparison, Landon Donovan is the U.S.'s World Cup goal leader with five). Coincidentally, Ronaldo scored his 15th agianst Ghana, too.

Klose celebrated his 70th international goal with his signature flip, but being 36 he couldn't quite stick it as he used to. Surely no one cares if you can land a flip when you're still scoring important World Cup goals at that age, though.

Ronaldo tweeted in both German and English to welcome Klose to the 15 goal club. He also said, "I imagine your happiness! What a beautiful World Cup!"

And Rihanna also tweeted her support for Klose. Judging by the picture she included, he's just as surprised about that as you are.

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