Oliver Kahn

Oliver Kahn
Kahn in 2022
Personal information
Full name Oliver Rolf Kahn[1]
Date of birth (1969-06-15) 15 June 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth Karlsruhe, West Germany
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1975–1987 Karlsruher SC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1990 Karlsruher SC II 73 (0)
1990–1994 Karlsruher SC 128 (0)
1994–2008 Bayern Munich 429 (0)
Total 630 (0)
International career
1995–2006 Germany 86 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Germany
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 2002 Korea/Japan
Third place 2006 Germany
UEFA European Championship
Winner 1996 England
FIFA Confederations Cup
Third place 2005 Germany
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Oliver Rolf Kahn (German: [ˈɔlivɐ ˈkaːn]; born 15 June 1969)[3] is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in the professional squad. In 1994, he was transferred to Bayern Munich for the fee of DM 4.6 million, where he played until the end of his career in 2008. His commanding presence in goal[4] and aggressive style earned him nicknames such as Der Titan ([deːɐ̯ tiˈtaːn], "The Titan") from the press and Vol-kahn-o ("volcano") from fans.[5] Kahn is one of the most successful German players in recent history, having won eight Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokals, the UEFA Cup in 1996, the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup, both achieved in 2001. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time,[3] his individual contributions have earned him a record four consecutive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards, as well as three IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper awards, and two German Footballer of the Year trophies. At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Kahn became the only goalkeeper in the tournament's history to win the Golden Ball. Kahn placed fifth in both the IFFHS Best Goalkeeper of the 21st Century and Best Goalkeeper of the Past 25 Years elections.[6][7]

From 1994 to 2006, Kahn was in the Germany 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. In the 2002 FIFA World Cup, although Germany were not among the tournament favourites, Kahn's prowess, despite being injured, in goal was key to reaching the final, where Germany lost 0–2 to Brazil. Kahn made a mistake on Brazil's first goal; nonetheless, he received the Golden Ball as player of the tournament.[8]

On 1 July 2021, he became the CEO of Bayern Munich till 27 May 2023.

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Germany" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference factfile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Jack Rollin. "Kahn's article on Encyclopædia Britannica Online". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Many new challenges ahead". DFB.de. 2 September 2008. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Buffon best in the 21st Century". Football Italia. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Buffon miglior portiere degli ultimi 25 anni" (in Italian). Il Corriere dello Sport. 17 January 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN_World was invoked but never defined (see the help page).