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Oliver Rolf Kahn (; born 15 June 1969) is a German
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
executive and former professional player who played as a
goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...
. He started his career in the
Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the ...
Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in the professional squad. In 1994, he was transferred to
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
for the fee of DM 4.6 million, where he played until the end of his career in 2008. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most successful goalkeepers of all-time. His commanding presence in goal and aggressive style earned him nicknames such as ''Der Titan'' (, "The Titan") from the press and ''Vol-kahn-o'' ("volcano") from fans. Kahn is one of the most successful German players in recent history, having won eight Bundesliga titles, six
DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
s, the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
in 1996, the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
and the Intercontinental Cup, both achieved in 2001. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, his individual contributions have earned him a record four consecutive UEFA
Best European Goalkeeper The Best European Goalkeeper award is a football award given annually since 1990 to the most outstanding Goalkeeper in Europe, as voted by the UEFA magazine, in 2009 the ESM become the donor of the award. From 1998 to 2009 the Best European Goa ...
awards, as well as three
IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper The IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper is a football award given annually since 1987 to the best goalkeeper of the year as voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The votes are cast by IFFHS's editorial staff ...
awards, and two
German Footballer of the Year The title Footballer of the Year (German: ''Fußballer des Jahres'') has been awarded in Germany since 1960. Eligible are German players as well as non-German players playing in Germany. In 1996, the title Women's Footballer of the Year (German ...
trophies. At the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, Kahn became the only goalkeeper in the tournament's history to win the Golden Ball. Kahn placed fifth in both the
IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
Best Goalkeeper of the 21st Century and Best Goalkeeper of the Past 25 Years elections. From 1994 to 2006, Kahn was part of the German national team, in which he played as a starter after the retirement of Andreas Köpke, he was an unused member of the squad that won the
1996 UEFA European Championship The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to ...
. In the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, although Germany were not among the tournament favourites, Kahn's prowess in goal was key to reaching the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
, where Germany lost 0–2 to
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. Kahn made a mistake on Brazil's first goal; nonetheless, he received the Golden Ball as player of the tournament. On 1 July 2021, he became the CEO of Bayern Munich.


Club career


Karlsruher SC

At the age of six, Kahn joined
Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the ...
, where his father Rolf had played from 1962 to 1965. He started as a field player before becoming goalkeeper. Kahn was included in the team's professional squad in the 1987–88 season of the first Bundesliga division, at first being the reserve goalkeeper behind Alexander Famulla. On 27 November 1987, Kahn made his league debut in a 4–0 away defeat to
1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ball ...
. However, not until 1990 did manager
Winfried Schäfer Winfried "Winnie" Schäfer (born 10 January 1950) is a German football manager and former player who last managed of Qatari club Al-Khor. Playing career Winfried Schäfer played 403 Bundesliga matches and scored 46 goals in the (West) German to ...
decide to start him over Famulla. In the following years, Kahn established himself as the team's starting goalkeeper. He was considered a key player and a motivator in the Karlsruher SC squad which reached the semi-finals in the
1993–94 UEFA Cup The 1993–94 UEFA Cup was won by Internazionale on aggregate over Austria Salzburg. Juventus were the defending champions, but got eliminated in the quarter-finals by Cagliari. Eastern Europe arrangements Political revolutions in Eastern Euro ...
. During the round of sixteen the team accomplished a 7–0 rout of
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
at its home field after losing the first match 1–3 at the
Mestalla Stadium Mestalla Stadium ( es, Estadio de Mestalla , ca-valencia, Estadi de Mestalla ) is a football stadium in Valencia, Spain. The stadium is the home of Valencia Club de Fútbol and has a capacity of 48,600 seats, making it the 8th-largest stadium i ...
. The game was nicknamed the "Miracle at Wildparkstadion" by the German media. The team was defeated by
SV Austria Salzburg SV Austria Salzburg is an Austrian professional football club, based in the city of Salzburg. The club was formed in 2005 by some supporters of the original SV (Austria) Salzburg after it was renamed FC Red Bull Salzburg by its new owners, who al ...
in the semi-final.


Bayern Munich

upleft, Kahn in 2006 Kahn's performance for Karlsruher SC prompted Bayern Munich to express interest in acquiring him. The team signed him as a replacement for
Raimond Aumann Raimond Aumann (born 12 October 1963) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His nickname is Balu (Germanized version of Baloo the bear in the Jungle Book). Career Aumann was born in Augsburg, West Germany. He ...
at the beginning of the 1994–95 season, for the at that time record fee of DM4.6 million (€2.385 million) for his position, and was established as Bayern's starting goalkeeper. Although suffering a rupture of his
cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...
, which kept him off the field for almost six months, Kahn made his debut match for the German national team two months after his return. Bayern defeated
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...
3–1 in the 1996 UEFA Cup Final. In the
1996–97 Bundesliga The 1996–97 Bundesliga was the 34th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. It began on 16 August 1996 and ended on 31 May 1997. Borussia Dortmund were the defending champions. Competition modus Every team played two games ...
season, Kahn achieved his first German championship with Bayern Munich, the German League Cup, and was named German Goalkeeper of the Year for the second time in his career (the first in 1994). In 1999, Bayern Munich reached the 1999 Champions League Final, facing
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
at
Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Bar ...
. Although Bayern Munich player
Mario Basler Mario Basler (born 18 December 1968) is a German football manager and former professional player who mainly played as a right midfielder. He is currently at TSG Eisenberg as a player and advisor. A dead-ball specialist, Basler scored numerous ...
scored an early goal in the sixth minute of the game, two goals by
Teddy Sheringham Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham, MBE (born 2 April 1966) is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career. Sheringham began his career at Millwall, where ...
and
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his car ...
in injury time led to United's victory. The same year, he was named World Goalkeeper of the Year by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. Kahn was sent off in an incident against
Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the for ...
on 3 March 2001. With his Bayern Munich team losing 2–3 in the final minutes, he sneaked into the area during a corner kick, jumped up, and punched the ball into the opponent's net. He immediately received a
red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or dia ...
, which dismissed him from the game. Later, he joked, "I thought the goalkeeper was allowed to use his hands in the box." He was named man of the match when he was part of the squad which played the 2001 Champions League title against Valencia. He played an important role in the penalty shoot-out held after the teams remained tied 1–1 after extra time, making three saves. He also received the UEFA Fair Play Award for this match, after he walked up to a disappointed
Santiago Cañizares José Santiago Cañizares Ruiz (; born 18 December 1969) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently a rally driver. A product of Real Madrid's youth academies, he eventually joined the first team but proved unable to ...
, the opposition goalkeeper, after the penalty shoot-out and attempted to comfort him. The same year, Bayern Munich won the Intercontinental Cup at Tokyo's
National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...
against the Argentine team
Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in th ...
. But the team failed to win the
UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...
a couple of months earlier. By Kahn's account, injuries, personal problems and a lack of motivation were responsible for his game going into a rapid decline during the 2002–03 season. This culminated with Kahn allowing a seemingly soft shot by
Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...
into the net against
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
in the first knockout-round of the 2003–04 Champions League season, contributing to the elimination of his team from the competition. Bayern Munich won the next Bundesliga season with Kahn. Prior to a 2006 match against
Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...
in Munich,
Michael Rensing Michael Rensing (born 14 May 1984) is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He has played for Bayern Munich, 1. FC Köln, Bayer Leverkusen and Fortuna Düsseldorf. Club career Early career Born to a German father and a Serbia ...
peppered Kahn with practice shots. One shot hit Kahn squarely in the eye, causing enough swelling and discoloration to keep him from playing. With Rensing in goal, Bayern Munich won the match 2–0. Kahn announced his intention to honour his contract and play through the 2007–08 season. As of 2021, he is the joint all time
clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...
leader in the history of the Bundesliga with
Manuel Neuer Manuel Peter Neuer (; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains both club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the ...
, with 204. On 2 September 2007, aged 38, he played his 535th Bundesliga match, becoming the league's all-time leader among goalkeepers in matches played. Kahn made his final European appearance for Bayern in a 4–0 defeat to
Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...
in the UEFA Cup semi-final on 1 May 2008. His last
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
game was the 4–1 victory against
Hertha Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charlo ...
on 17 May. It was his 557th appearance in the German top-flight. After a 20-year career, of which he played 14 with Bayern, he had his professional farewell in a
testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...
versus the select Germany XI on 2 September 2008, which ended 1–1. His last appearance for Bayern Munich was on 27 May 2008 at the
Salt Lake Stadium The Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK; ), commonly known as the Salt Lake Stadium, is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium located in Bidhannagar, with current capacity of 85,000 spectators. Named after Swami Vivekananda, the stadium f ...
(Yuba Bharati Krirangan),
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
, in a friendly against
Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regim ...
of India during Bayern's Asian tour of 2008. Around 120,000 people turned up for the match. The match ended 0–3 in favour of Bayern and
Michael Rensing Michael Rensing (born 14 May 1984) is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He has played for Bayern Munich, 1. FC Köln, Bayer Leverkusen and Fortuna Düsseldorf. Club career Early career Born to a German father and a Serbia ...
substituted him in the 55th minute.


International career

Kahn was initially called for the German national team as a late back-up for the
1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
; however he made his first international appearance on 23 June 1995 in a 2–1 victory against
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, two months after recovering from his cruciate ligament injury. Along with
Oliver Reck Oliver Reck (born 27 February 1965) is a German football manager and former player. In a 20-year professional career, he played as a goalkeeper and was best known for his stints with Werder Bremen and Schalke 04, for whom he appeared in more t ...
, Kahn was a reserve keeper of the squad, which won the
1996 UEFA European Football Championship The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...
in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. Kahn spent the
1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for t ...
in France on the bench, and it was not until Andreas Köpke announced his retirement at the end of the tournament that Kahn became the starting goalkeeper. Two years after the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, in which defending champions Germany made an embarrassing exit in the group stage, Kahn received the squad's captaincy, succeeding the striker
Oliver Bierhoff Oliver Bierhoff (born 1 May 1968) is a German football official and former player who played as a forward. He has previously served as the national team director of the German Football Association. A tall, strong and prolific goalscorer, Bierh ...
. Kahn experienced one of his worst performances in his international career against England in Munich in 2001. Germany were favoured to win as they had beaten England 1–0 in 2000 at the
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
. However, they were routed 5–1, including a
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...
by
Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...
. Despite the defeat, Germany qualified for the World Cup after winning a playoff against Ukraine, and Kahn remained as Germany's number one for the upcoming Cup. Kahn was named the best goalkeeper in the world by IFFHS for the second time in his career. Despite Germany's comparatively low expectations when for the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, the team advanced to the finals; Kahn conceded only three goals in the course of the competition, two of which were in the Final. Playing the final match with torn ligaments in his right ring finger, Kahn conceded the first goal by fumbling a rebounded shot from
Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a ...
to the feet of striker
Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...
in the 67th minute. Once the game was over with Brazil as the new champion, he stood alone and disappointed in his goal; nevertheless he refused to blame his injury for his mistake. The FIFA Technical Study Group awarded him with the Lev Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament, while also edging out tournament top scorer Ronaldo to receive the Golden Ball for the best individual performance. Kahn is the only goalkeeper in World Cup history to win the Golden Ball, and also became the first German goalkeeper to keep five clean sheets in a World Cup tournament. Kahn maintained his number one spot for the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, but Germany were once again eliminated in the group stage. Oliver Kahn gave up his captaincy to Michael Ballack after the tournament. Germany's new manager
Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...
, who replaced Rudi Völler, adopted the strategy of rotating the number one spot between Kahn and his longtime competitor,
Jens Lehmann Jens Gerhard Lehmann (; born 10 November 1969) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was a member of Arsenal's " Invincibles", playing every match of their unbeaten title-winning season. He holds the UEFA Ch ...
of
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
, to stimulate competition between the two. On 7 April 2006, after two years of dispute for the position Klinsmann announced Lehmann was his first-choice goalkeeper for the 2006 World Cup. 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 shoot-out against Argentina. In the postgame conference, Kahn publicly praised Lehmann for his two decisive penalty saves. After Germany was eliminated in the semi-finals by Italy, Kahn was given the start for the third place play-off held on 8 July 2006, which Germany won 3–1 against Portugal. In what was his last international appearance for Germany, he also received the captaincy of the team in the absence of the injured Michael Ballack. Although overshadowed by
Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger (; born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who usually played as a central midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder. Schweinsteiger is regarded as one of the great ...
's game-winning performance in the match, Kahn played to a high standard, pulling off several saves. Kahn deflected a shot by Portuguese forward Pauleta after he beat the German defence, and later saved
Deco Anderson Luís de Souza (born 27 August 1977), known as Deco (), is a retired professional footballer who primarily played as an attacking or central midfielder. Born and raised in Brazil, he acquired Portuguese citizenship and played for P ...
's shot made from just inside the penalty area. 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. He never won a World Cup, but finished as runner-up in 2002 and third in 2006.


Media

Due to his performances during the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Kahn gained popularity in Asia. He was depicted in several television commercials, including one for the
Shinkin bank A (literally a "credit treasury") is a type of Japanese deposit institution. They are cooperative regional financial institutions serving small and medium enterprises and local residents. Anyone who lives, works, or has an office in the region s ...
. In 2008, his wax figure in the Berlin branch of the
Madame Tussaud Anna Maria "Marie" Tussaud (; née Grosholtz; 1 December 1761 – 16 April 1850) was a French artist known for her wax sculptures and Madame Tussauds, the wax museum she founded in London. Biography Marie Tussaud was born 1 December 1761 in S ...
museum was inaugurated. Kahn is the subject of the song ''Olli Kahn'' by the German pop group
Die Prinzen Die Prinzen ("The Princes") is a German band, that is made up of former members of the Thomanerchor (the choir of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany, where Johann Sebastian Bach was music director for many years) and a former member of the Dr ...
. In 2015, the arcade game company
Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has ca ...
announced that Kahn would feature in their football video game ''
Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2016'' (abbreviated as ''PES 2016'', marketed as ''Winning Eleven 2016'' in Japan) is a football simulation game developed by PES Productions and published by Konami for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox ...
'' as one of the new myClub Legends.


Television career

After the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, he joined the ZDF sports team as an analyst for the German national team's games. In 2009, he was part of the jury of a
China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...
reality show, which aimed to find China's best young goalkeeper. As of 2011, he started negotiations with television channel Sat.1 to introduce the same format to German television under the name ''Never give up – The Kahn Principle'', in which the winner would receive a contract to play for a Bundesliga club.


Bayern Munich management

On 30 August 2019, it was revealed that Kahn would join the executive board of FC Bayern Munich on 1 January 2020. On 1 June 2021, it was announced that Kahn would take over the CEO position at Bayern Munich starting 1 July 2021, succeeding retiring
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge (; born 25 September 1955) is a German football executive and former professional player. He was the longtime Chairman of Executive Board of FC Bayern München AG, a daughter company of German Bundesliga team Bayer ...
.


Personal life

Kahn was born in
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
. He is partly of Latvian descent; his father Rolf was born in
Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important ice-f ...
in 1943, where he remains well-known, to a Latvian mother, Ērika Alksne, and a
Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
father, also named Rolf. Rolf briefly played professionally for Karlsruher SC, as did his son Axel, Oliver Kahn's older brother. In 2009, he was offered the position of manager for the
FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...
, which he turned down. Two years thereafter, in April 2011, a German court fined Kahn €125,000 ( $182,223) for tax evasion after failing to declare more than €6,000 of luxury clothing he bought on a trip to
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...
. He supports the Munich street-football league ''Bunt kickt gut'', which is considered a pioneer project of organised street-football and a Germany and Europe-wide model of intercultural understanding, education values and prevention; the Sepp-Herberger foundation, which promotes football in schools, clubs, and prisons; and the Justin Rockola Association, whose goal is the protection of young people against violence, alcohol and drugs. He received his coaching licence in 2010. After having studied business at the Privatuniversität Schloss Seeburg Kahn obtained a
Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
degree in 2012. His thesis topic was "Strategic management in Germany's professional soccer".


Relationships

In 1999, Kahn married Simone, with whom he has two children: Katharina-Maria (born 28 December 1998) and David (born 7 March 2003). The couple separated in 2003 and Kahn thereafter had a highly publicised relationship with Verena Kerth from 2003 to 2008. Kahn and Simone briefly reconciled in 2009, before divorcing the same year. On 8 July 2011, Kahn married his girlfriend Svenja in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
. The couple has a son, born in 2011.


Style of play

Regarded as one of the greatest and most successful goalkeepers of all time, in addition to his goalkeeping technique, agility, reflexes, distribution, command of his area, and shot-stopping abilities, Kahn is widely admired for the stamina, mental strength, and composure he showed to overcome the stresses and pressures of his career. His profile on the Bayern Munich website lists his attributes as "impatient, disciplined, ambitious". Kahn was known for his eccentricity and charismatic leadership from the back, which often saw him call out his defenders whenever they made errors. Due to the formidable presence, commanding influence, and aggressive playing style that he showed in goal during his professional career, Kahn's
epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
is "The Titan"; he was also frequently nicknamed "King Kahn" throughout his career.


Career statistics


Club

*1.Includes
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
and
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
. *2.Includes German Super Cup,
UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...
, and Intercontinental Cup.


International


Honours

Karlsruher SC II *
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg The Oberliga Baden-Württemberg is the highest association football league in the state of Baden-Württemberg and the Baden-Württemberg football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German foot ...
: 1989–90 * Verbandsliga Nordbaden: 1988–89 Bayern Munich *
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
: 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08 *
DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08 * DFB-Ligapokal:
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
,
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
,
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
,
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
,
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...
*
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
: 2000–01 *
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
: 1995–96 * Intercontinental Cup:
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...
Germany *
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...
:
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...
*
FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...
third place:
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
*
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
: runner-up
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, third place
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...
Individual * Best
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
Keeper: 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 * ''
kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...
''
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
Team of the Season: 1996–97, 2001–02 *
IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper The IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper is a football award given annually since 1987 to the best goalkeeper of the year as voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The votes are cast by IFFHS's editorial staff ...
: 1999, 2001, 2002 *
Best European Goalkeeper The Best European Goalkeeper award is a football award given annually since 1990 to the most outstanding Goalkeeper in Europe, as voted by the UEFA magazine, in 2009 the ESM become the donor of the award. From 1998 to 2009 the Best European Goa ...
: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 *
UEFA Club Football Awards In recognition of the best players in the UEFA Champions League each year, UEFA gives out several awards to the most outstanding performers of the European club football season. The awards are presented in August each year at a special gala in Monac ...
– Best Goalkeeper: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 * ESM Team of the Year: 1999–2000, 2000–01 * UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match: 2001 *
German Footballer of the Year The title Footballer of the Year (German: ''Fußballer des Jahres'') has been awarded in Germany since 1960. Eligible are German players as well as non-German players playing in Germany. In 1996, the title Women's Footballer of the Year (German ...
: 2000, 2001 *
Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (f ...
third place: 2001, 2002 * UEFA Fair-Play Award: 2001 * FIFA World Cup Golden Ball:
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
* FIFA World Cup Yashin Award: 2002 * FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2002 *
FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representati ...
Silver Award: 2002 *
FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fou ...
* Golden Foot: 2017, as football legend


See also

* List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances


Further reading

* * *


References


External links

* * * * *
Oliver Kahn's profile on Bayern Munich's official website

Oliver Kahn's article in Encyclopædia Britannica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Oliver 1969 births Living people German people of Latvian descent People of Baltic German descent Footballers from Karlsruhe Footballers from Baden-Württemberg West German footballers German footballers Association football goalkeepers Karlsruher SC II players Karlsruher SC players FC Bayern Munich footballers Bundesliga players UEFA Cup winning players UEFA Champions League winning players Germany international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA European Championship-winning players FIFA 100 University of Hagen alumni ZDF people FC Bayern Munich board members