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Oliver Rolf Kahn (born 15 June 1969 in Karlsruhe) is a German football
goalkeeper. He played for the German national team (from 1995 to 2006) and still
plays for Bayern München (since 1994).
 Club
career
Karlsruher
SC
Kahn signed his first professional contract at Karlsruher SC in the 1987-88 season,
at first being the reserve goalkeeper behind Alexander Famulla. However, he had to
wait until 1990 until KSC coach Winfried Schäfer decided to start Kahn over
Famulla. In the following years, Kahn established himself as a quality goalkeeper,
greatly contributing in establishing KSC as a force to reckon with in the
Bundesliga. He was a key player in the fondly-remembered KSC team which reached the
semi finals in the 1993-94 UEFA Cup, the most memorable moment being a historic 7-0
rout of Valencia CF after losing the first match 1-3.
Bayern
München
Kahn was first signed by Bayern Munich at the beginning of the 1994/95 season, and
has since gone on to win multiple honors, both at the domestic and international
level. The Bavarian club paid him a then record fee for a goalkeeper of 2.5 million
euros, and thus Kahn was firmly established as Bayern's first-choice. Although
suffering a rupture of his cruciate ligament in the next season, he developed into
a formidable player. In 1999, he captained Bayern to the Champions League final,
although Manchester United scored two goals in injury time to win the title (called
the "Tragedy of Camp Nou" by fans of Bayern München, and "Miracle of Camp Nou" by
fans of Manchester United"). He was named Man of the Match when he supported his
club to the 2001 Champions League title, making several crucial saves in the
penalty shootout that commenced after the teams remained tied 1-1 after extra
time.
Due to injuries and personal problems, his game went into a rapid decline after the
2002-2003 season. This culminated with Kahn allowing a seemingly soft shot into the
net against Real Madrid in the 2004 Champions League season, contributing to the
elimination of his team from the competition. However, since the 2003-2004 season
and despite advancing in age, Kahn's performances have vastly improved and he has
re-established himself as a reliable shot stopper.
Kahn has announced his intention to honor his contract and play through the
2007-2008 season. . As of 2007, he is the all time clean sheet leader in the
history of the Bundesliga with 185. He made his 500th Bundesliga appearance on
April 15, 2006. Milestones continue to fall for Kahn; he made his 400th Bundesliga
appearance with Bayern Munich on August 11, 2006 against Bayer Leverkusen; and on
September 2, 2007, he played in his 535th Bundesliga match, becoming the league's
all time leader in matches played among goalkeepers.
International
career
Kahn's international debut for Germany came in a match against Switzerland on June
23, 1995; however, it was some time before he became the team's primary goalkeeper.
Initially Kahn was the reserve keeper as Germany were victorious in Euro 96 in
England. He spent the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France on the bench, and it was not
until Andreas Köpke announced his retirement at the end of the tournament that Kahn
was finally given his chance in the No. 1 shirt. Euro 2000 was a difficult period
for then-defending champions Germany, as they made an embarrassing exit in the
group stage, having scored only one goal. The team drew with Romania and suffered
losses to England and Portugal. Afterwards, Kahn became captain of the national
team, succeeding Oliver Bierhoff.
Expectations for Germany were comparatively low entering the 2002 FIFA World Cup,
but it was Kahn's shot-stopping prowess and leadership that carried the team to a
surprise appearance in the finals, and allowed only three goals in the course of
the competition. Despite playing much of the final match with torn ligaments in his
right ring finger, Kahn was still blamed (perhaps unfairly due to the injury) for
losing the championship after allowing the first goal by Brazilian striker Ronaldo
off a rebound in the 67th minute. Kahn nevertheless won the Lev Yashin Award for
the best goalkeeper of the tournament, and became the first goalkeeper in history
to win the Golden Ball for the best individual performance. Kahn maintained his #1
spot for Euro 2004, but Germany were once again eliminated in the group stage.
Since then, Kahn has been unable to regain his former status as the undisputed
world's best goalkeeper. He lost his status as the first choice goalkeeper for the
national team, with team manager Jürgen Klinsmann rotating the number one spot
between Kahn and his longtime competitor whom he had been attempting to fend off,
Jens Lehmann of Arsenal F.C.. Kahn's hopes of playing in the 2006 World Cup were
crushed on April 7, 2006, when Klinsmann announced his decision to use Lehmann as
the first-choice goalkeeper, but Kahn decided to stay on as a backup for the
competition. Despite their acrimonious pre-tournament battle for Germany's starting
role, Kahn openly accepted Klinsmann's decision. Kahn and Lehmann embraced and
shook hands as the former offered words of encouragement before the quarter-final
penalty shootout against Argentina. In the postgame conference, Kahn publicly
praised Lehmann for his two decisive penalty saves.
After Germany was eliminated in the semifinals by Italy, Kahn was given the start
for the Third Place play-offs held on July 8, 2006. Kahn was also the captain of
the team in the absence of the injured Michael Ballack, and so earned his last
international appearance for Germany, which defeated Portugal 3-1. Although
overshadowed by Bastian Schweinsteiger`s game-winning performance in the match,
Kahn played to a high standard, pulling off several world-class saves throughout
the match. Kahn deflected a shot by Portuguese forward Pauleta after he beat the
German defence, and he later saved Deco's kick made from just inside the box.
Following the match, Oliver Kahn announced his retirement from the German National
Team. Throughout his international career he earned 86 caps for Germany, including
49 as team captain.
Private
life
In 2003 Kahn split with his ex-wife Simone, with whom he has had two children,
David and Catharina-Maria. The divorce occurred after he was romantically linked to
former barmaid Verena Kerth. The affair with Kerth was widely publicised in German
tabloids when Kahn left Simone whilst she was in the eighth month of her second
pregnancy. Kahn and Kerth have been in a relationship since then. He is also an
avid golf player, taking part in local tournaments during his spare time.
Public
image
Kahn is a player obsessed by perfection, known to train fanatically, but he also
has the tendency to erupt into fits of rage when things go wrong. A result of his
seemingly overambitious attitude in the field is that he is a target for German
comedians and caricaturists, who portray him as a maniac. In 1996, popular German
comedian Harald Schmidt lip-synched Kahn by using ape noises and calling him
"gorilla", after Kahn angrily shouted at Bayern teammate Andreas Herzog during a
match.
In a TV commercial for the Paulaner brewery, he sits on a bench with a beer and
sighs "on the bench, life is best," in referernce to him being benched from the
German team for the 2006 World Cup; and in ads for Burger King, he sits on a bench
with the caption Olli Kahn proves his size (in German, "size" also means
"composure"), a reference to a new, bigger burger.
Honours
Club
Titles
Bundesliga: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006
German Cup: 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006
German Super Cup: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007
UEFA Cup: 1996
UEFA Champions League: 2001
Intercontinental Cup: 2001
National Team
European Championship: 1996
World Cup runner-up: 2002
World Cup Bronze medallist: 2006
FIFA Confederations Cup Bronze medallist: 2005
Source : Some of the information on this page came
from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU Documentation
License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Oliver
Kahn - Generator - Biography
