Kahn, Oliver

▪ 2003

      By his own admission, German goalkeeper and team captain Oliver Kahn made only one mistake in the 2002 World Cup finals—a fumble in the final against Brazil—and it cost Germany the trophy. Shot stoppers in association football (soccer), unlike more orthodox goalkeepers, block most attempts at goal but are vulnerable when failing to hold onto the ball. The irony of the occasion was not lost on Germany's captain. Before the final, Kahn had been handed the Lev Yashin Award as the best goalkeeper of the tournament, and after the game, he became the first goalkeeper to receive the Golden Ball as the best player of the finals. Kahn offered no excuses in the aftermath of the loss to Brazil, despite having sustained a hand injury just before halftime. Such disappointments did not linger long in the mind of this tall (1.88-m [6 ft 2 in]), craggy-faced German, who was playing in his 52nd international match.

      Kahn was born in the industrial town of Karlsruhe, W. Ger., on June 15, 1969. He began playing as a seven-year-old with his local football club, made his first-team debut with Karlsruhe SC in 1987–88, and became a regular choice in 1990–91. He progressed so well that in 1994 Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga (Germany's top league) signed him in a £1.6 million (about $2.5 million) transfer, which in 2002 still ranked as the highest transfer fee for a German goalkeeper. In his initial season with Bayern, however, he sustained a serious knee injury that sidelined him for five months.

      Variously nicknamed “King Kahn,” “Kung Fu Kahn,” “Sheer Kahn,” and “Genghis Kahn” (but mostly just plain Ollie), the Teutonic titan became a formidable figure for opposing forwards to face. Brave, quick, athletic, and with excellent reflexes—especially in one-on-one situations with opponents—he became a brilliant defense organizer. Kahn received able guidance from Bayern's legendary goalkeeper Sepp Maier, and after Kahn's arrival the team collected four straight Bundesliga championships (1997–2000) and two German cups (1998 and 2000), as well as the 1996 Union des Associations Européenes de Football (UEFA) Cup and the 2001 UEFA Champions League.

      Despite his early diligence, Kahn did not make either the German youth or intermediate-level national teams. He played his first international match against Switzerland in 1995 and was Germany's second-string goalkeeper at the 1998 World Cup finals. From then on, however, he was Germany's number one choice. The 2002 World Cup gave Kahn his first real opportunity on the world stage. He suffered a humiliating experience in the qualifying competition when he conceded five goals to England, but he recovered with typical resilience. Though in his earlier days Kahn was considered to be rather short-tempered, by 2002 he had moderated his fiery approach, learned to curb his headstrong tendencies, and freely admitted to being inconsolable after his one mistake cost Germany the World Cup title.

Jack Rollin

* * *