Abschied Oliver Kahn!

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After 13 dedicated years for Bayern Munich, Oliver Kahn had officially retired on 27th May, 2008.

He made his last professional appearance for Bayern at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata in a friendly match against Mohun Bagan during Bayern's Asian Tour of 2008.

Kahn ended up his career with 428 appearances for Bayern and made him as Bayern’s greatest goalkeeper ever alongside club legend Sepp Maier.

The 39-year-old has been such a great character for all over these years that German and world football will surely missed.

Kahn earned the nickname "King Kahn" or "The Titan" for his reputation as the best goalkeepers during his 22 years football career.

He is one of the most successful players in German football history, earning eight Bundesliga titles, six German cups, the UEFA Cup (1996), the Champions League (2001) and the Intercontinental Cup (2001).

Kahn gained many individual achievements as well, having won seven Bundesliga Keeper of the Year awards, two German Footballer of the Year trophies and four consecutive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards, between 1999 to 2002.

He was on third place on two times the European Footballer of the Year vote and has been voted the World’s best goalkeeper three times (1999, 2001, 2002).

In 1999 he involved in the tragic Champions League Final that was the "Tragedy of Camp Nou" as Manchester United scored two goals in injury time to win the title.

However, two years later he was named Man of the Match as Bayern won their fourth Champions League title with a penalty shoot-out win over Valencia, which he made several crucial saves in the shoot-out.

Kahn played for the German national team from 1994 to 2006, playing in four consecutive World Cups, where he was captain and starting goalkeeper in the 2002 World Cup squad which reached the finals and awarded the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball for his magnificent performance in the tournament, the first goalkeeper to won the award.

He left a remarkable note on the tournament, conceding only one goal since group phase until the final. Republic of Ireland’s Robbie Keane was the scorer in the 1-1 Group E match.

Kahn has couple of records to his name. He is the all time clean sheet leader in the Bundesliga history with 190 times and it sums up to a total of 736 playing minutes.

He played his 557th and final Bundesliga match for Bayern on Saturday May 17, 2008 against Hertha and made him the league’s all time leader in matches played among goalkeepers. He is also one of several players who able to play more than 100 match in the Champions League.

King Kahn made his last international appearance for the Nationalmannschaft in the Third Place Play-off against Portugal. His record for Germany ends at 86 caps with 49 of those as captain.

Looking the successor for King Kahn will be difficult task for both Germany and Bayern. He is one of the most influential goalkeeper in the world.

His winning and perfectionist character always made some people feel restless. You will not find a player who more strongly motivated to succeed today.

It's time for German and world football to say "Farewell Oliver Kahn!"


Full name: Oliver Hans Kahn
Date of birth: July 15, 1969
Birthplace: Karlsruhe, Germany
Nationality: German
Height: 188 cms
Weight: 88 kgs

Honours:
UEFA European Football Championship (1996)

UEFA Cup (1996)
UEFA Champions League (2001)
Intercontinental Cup (2001)
German Bundesliga (1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008)
German Ligapokal (1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007)
German DFB-Pokal (1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008)

UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Year (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year (1999, 2001, 2002)
German Footballer of the Year (2000, 2001)
Lev Yashin Award (2002)
FIFA World Cup MVP (2002)

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2 comments

Comment Author Avatar
May 31, 2008 10:43 AM Delete
ABC Bloglearner says...

Another great trivia... what an achievement he got!

ABC Bloglearner
Comment Author Avatar
May 31, 2008 3:51 PM Delete
thanks for the drop.nice entry.