The month of June was one of sadness for Oliver Kahn. About 15 years ago, the disappointment on his face was more obvious when the camera panned his face. Kahn was silent in his own goal while clapping his hips with a blank look at the Yokohama Stadium. At that time, Kahn failed to lead Germany to win the 2002 World Cup in Korea-Japan because they were defeated by Brazil with a score of 2-0.
His biggest disappointment was that he felt that the first goal he scored against was his fault. He truly regretted the outcome of the fight. “That was my only mistake in the final. It was 10 times worse than any mistake I’ve ever made. There was no way I could make myself feel better or make my mistakes go away,” he added as quoted by The Guardian.
The defeat was a sadness for him, who was usually always happy when in June he won a trophy with Bayern Munich. June is also a month of happiness for Kahn because on this day, June 15th, Kahn’s birthday. He is one of the most successful players in German and world history.
His position as a goalkeeper is often juxtaposed with legendary names such as Dino Zoff, Gordon Banks, Lev Yashin and Sepp Maier. Kahn won eight Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokal, six DFB-Ligapokal and one Champions League, UEFA Cup, Intercontinental Cup and European Cup each. Individually, Kahn received many awards such as four titles for the best European goalkeeper, the best player in the 2001 Champions League final, twice the best German player and others.
The most amazing individual award is being able to win the Golden Ball for the 2002 World Cup. This title makes him the only goalkeeper to win the Golden Ball. He is also the best goalkeeper in 25 years according to the IFFHS. Kahn is in the footsteps that other German goalkeepers have always wanted to follow.
One of them is like Manuel Neuer who followed in his footsteps because he spent his career strengthening Munich. Although Neuer has indeed become a stereotype of German goalkeepers for his ability to play sweeper-keeper, followed by German goalkeepers such as Kevin Trapp, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and others, Kahn is still the emperor. After all, Neuer was inspired by him.
Before Neuer appeared, Kahn was known as a very brave goalkeeper. He is not afraid to duel one on one with the opponent’s striker who has the ball. Or suddenly lunge for an aerial duel so you can punch your opponent’s cross. More than daring, Kahn is a charismatic goalkeeper who is fierce at shouting on the pitch.
In addition, his large stature makes both his friends and foes reluctant to refute him. Every moment saw Kahn’s actions, it was as if there was a lion’s figure inside his body for his actions in keeping the goal. “Every goal conceded is an insult to me,” said Kahn as quoted from the official FIFA website.
Even more important than that, his ability to stay cool when competing is needed. Kahn rarely made rash decisions. As the best goalkeeper, he knows that patience is an important virtue in decisive moments. So it’s not without reason if he becomes captain and the defenders always obey his orders.
Kahn’s contribution to his team is one of the best. Anyone who is familiar with Kahn knows how great a figure he is, even though he is often seen as an antagonist on the field. quoted from Spiegel Online.
Indeed, whoever captains his team or country, Kahn is a big player. Kahn started his football career at the Karlsruher SC academy when he was only six years old in 1975. Then Kahn was promoted to Karlsruher SC II in 1987 and played 73 times over three seasons. It was only in 1987, he was in the main squad for Karlsruher and played 128 matches until 1994 before being bought by Munich.
In 1993/1994, Kahn did show his brilliance. In that season he was able to bring Karlsruher to reach the 1993/1994 UEFA Cup semifinals. One of his brilliant performances at the event was when he beat Bordeaux, PSV Eindhoven and Valencia, which at that time were more glamorous teams than Karlsuher. It was also in the 1993/1994 UEFA Cup that Kahn did not concede in five matches, including when he beat Valencia with a score of 7-0.
So Munich bought him for around 2.3 million euros in the 1994 summer transfer market. And amazingly, Kahn immediately became the main goalkeeper to replace Raimond Aumann. Even though that season he had to struggle to recover from a knee ligament injury. That injury made Kahn feel his debut in Germany on June 23, 1995.
It’s only in the second season, it was in Munich he won his first title with the team. Kahn led Munich to get the 1995/1996 UEFA Cup. Then various kinds of titles previously described followed his career. The title continued to follow Kahn until he finally retired in 2008. At the end of his career, he successfully presented a double title, namely the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal to Munich.
History is always written by the victors and in joy and beautiful stories will bear consequences for the losers. It was this view that was the end of Kahn’s career, a reminder that fairy tales don’t have happy endings for everyone. Kahn was unable to decorate his career with a World Cup title. But the lion always roars when fighting for his throne in the jungle. That’s the figure of Kahn on the gridiron.
ASL
