Oliver Kahn
| Oliver Kahn | |
|---|---|
.JPG?lang=en)
| |
| Date of Birth | 15 June 1969 |
| Place Of Birth | Karlsruhe, Germany |
| Height | 1.88 m |
| Weight | 91 kg |
| Club | Bayern Munich |
| Position | Goalkeeper |
Oliver Kahn (born June 15, 1969 in Karlsruhe, Germany) is a German football goalkeeper. He plays for the German national team (since 1995) and Bayern München (since 1994). He is known as King Kahn or Kahn, the Titan for his prowess in the game.
Career
Kahn began his football odyssey in 1976, in his native town, Karlsruhe. A year later, he was playing for Karlsruhe SC's youth team. He worked his way up through the youth teams but never quite made it into the international youth set-up. He subsequently made his Bundesliga debut in the autumn of 1990 and left an indelible mark from the outset. It took him only three seasons to establish himself as one of the best last lines of defence in the Bundesliga and his excellent displays were rewarded with a call-up to the national team in October 1993. He was drafted into the German squad at the
as reserve keeper to Bodo Illgner, but never made the starting line-up.
He was signed by Bayern Munich at the beginning of the 1994/95 season, and has gone on to win many honors, both at domestic and international level. The 2.5 million euros paid by the Bavarian club was a record fee for a goalkeeper at the time, and from the very beginning Kahn was made Bayern's first-choice. Although suffering a rupture of his cruciate ligament in the next season, he developed into a most formidable goalkeeper.
His international debut came in a match against Switzerland on June 23, 1995. He had to still make do with being the reserve keeper at (edit conflict × 96) in England. At the
in France he had to play second fiddle for the third successive major international tournament. It was not until Andreas Köpke announced his retirement at the end of the tournament that Oliver Kahn was finally given his chance as the unquestionable German number one. In 2002, he won the adidas Golden Ball for best player and the Yashin Award for top goalkeeper of the
, Where there was only two countries to have scored on him; the Republic of Ireland and the World Cup champions Brazil. He also starred for his country at Template:Ec2 and Template:Ec2.
He and his wife Simone split in 2003 after he was romantically linked to former barmaid Verena Kerth; he and Kerth have been in a relationship since then. He has two children.
Player profile
Kahn is a player obsessed by perfection, and trains fanatically. He is hyper-competitive and always demands 100% from himself and his teammates. On the pitch, he is a charismatic, dominant presence who leads his defense and intimidates the opposition. His reflexes are stellar, his control of the box is excellent, and he excels in one-to-one situations.
However, approaching age (and overcoming private problems), his game has declined slowly. He hit a nadir when he allowed a seemingly easy-to-save goal against Real Madrid in 2004, but since then, has recovered to become a worldclass keeper once again. He plans to remain the number one goalie under the posts of the German national team and play in the
in his homeland Germany, although trainer Jurgen Klinsmann's choices, with him playing alternatively with Jens Lehmann and Timo Hildebrand, make the enterprise difficult for him. Kahn believes he can play at top level for three to four more years.
Honors
Club Titles
- Bundesliga: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005
- German Cup: 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005
- German Super Cup: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003
- UEFA Cup: 1996
- Champions League: 2001
- Intercontinental Cup: 2001
National Team
- European Championship: 1996
- World Cup runner-up: 2002
Personal Honors
- The World's best Goalkeeper: 1999, 2001, 2002
- Best European Goalkeeper: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
- German Footballer of the Year: 2000, 2001
- Best Bundesliga Keeper: 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
- Golden Ball (Best World Cup Player): 2002
- Best goalkeeper of the World Cup: 2002
- UEFA Fair-Play Award: 2001
- Bambi: 2001
Ridicule
In 1996, popular German comedian Harald Schmidt lip-synced Kahn, when he angrily shouted at colleague Andreas Herzog, by using ape noises ("Uh-uh-uh'). This became of cult fame, and from that moment on, fans of the opposing team would taunt him by making ape noises and throwing bananas at him. But since his stellar performance in the 2002 World Cup, this has mostly ceased.
Trivia
He demands financial rights for whatever use of his image, therefore, he does not allow his name to be used in some football simulation games such as Football Manager, where he instead appears as Jens Mustermann (Mustermann being the fictitious name used in sample IDs and passports, matty thompson has long nasel hairs and big eyebrows. Jens as provocation, because it is the first name of his biggest rival, Jens Lehmann).
He is also an avid golfer, taking part in golf tournaments during his spare time.