Oliver Kahn: the goalkeeper who won a Champions League on penalties

Oliver Kahn did not simply defend a goal. He fought for it. For fourteen years he was the intense, shouting goalkeeper of Bayern Munich,.

His career is easiest to read in three moments: three penalties saved in a Champions League final, one mistake in a World Cup final and a farewell spread across a summer.

The numbers

The curve rises slowly at Karlsruhe, where he waited three seasons to become a regular, and then stays high for fourteen years at Bayern, where he played between 38 and 52 games in every full season after his first.

From Karlsruhe to Munich

Kahn made his Bundesliga debut for Karlsruher SC in 1987 and became a regular in 1990–91. In 1993–94 he played in Europe for the first time, and in the summer of 1994 Bayern Munich signed him from Karlsruhe to replace Raimond Aumann, for DM 4.6 million, a record for a goalkeeper at the time.

He became the starter at once. In 1995–96 Bayern beat Bordeaux in the UEFA Cup final, the first of the European titles he would collect in Munich. He made his Germany debut on 23 June 1995 in a 2–1 win over Switzerland, two months after recovering from a cruciate ligament injury, and was part of the squad that won Euro 1996 in England as the reserve to Andreas Köpke.

A decade of titles

Two finals, two different endings

Camp Nou, 1999

The first Champions League final he played went wrong in the last minutes. Mario Basler put Bayern ahead in the sixth minute against Manchester United, and Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored in injury time to give United the trophy.

San Siro, 23 May 2001

Two years later Bayern met Valencia in the final at the San Siro. Gaizka Mendieta scored a penalty in the third minute and Stefan Effenberg equalised with another from the spot in the 50th, and the game finished 1–1 after extra time.

In the shoot-out Kahn saved three penalties. He stopped Zlatko Zahovič and Mauricio Pellegrino and tipped Amedeo Carboni's kick onto the crossbar, while Santiago Cañizares saved from Patrik Andersson and Bayern won 5–4. He was named man of the match, and received the UEFA Fair Play Award after going to console the Valencia goalkeeper, Santiago Cañizares.

Bayern won the Intercontinental Cup against Boca Juniors in Tokyo later that year, and Kahn finished third in the Ballon d'Or voting.

The 2002 World Cup

Kahn conceded only three goals in the whole of the tournament in Japan and South Korea, and two of them were in the final. He carried Germany to the final, and was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player along with the Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper.

The final, against Brazil, was decided by a single error. On 30 June 2002, in the 67th minute, he fumbled a Rivaldo shot into Ronaldo's path. Germany lost 2–0. He was playing with torn ligaments in his right ring finger, but did not blame it.

"It was the only mistake I made in seven games and it was brutally punished."

— Kahn after the 2002 World Cup final, as reported by CNN

Decline and the Lehmann years

The years after 2002 were harder. Kahn later put his rapid decline down to injuries, personal problems and a lack of motivation. In the 2003–04 Champions League a soft shot from Roberto Carlos slipped through his hands against Real Madrid and contributed to Bayern's elimination. At Euro 2004 he kept the number one shirt but Germany went out in the group stage, and he handed the captaincy to Michael Ballack.

Then came Jens Lehmann. Jürgen Klinsmann rotated the two goalkeepers before the 2006 World Cup and on 7 April 2006 announced that Lehmann was his first choice. Kahn stayed on as the number two and accepted it. He embraced Lehmann before the quarter-final penalty shoot-out against Argentina, and afterwards praised the two saves that won it.

The third-place match against Portugal on 8 July 2006 was his farewell for Germany. He started, captained the side in place of the injured Ballack and won 3–1, and announced his international retirement afterwards with 86 caps, 49 of them as captain.

The farewell

Back at Bayern, he played on for two more seasons. His last European match was a 4–0 defeat to Zenit Saint Petersburg in the UEFA Cup semi-final on 1 May 2008. His last Bundesliga game came on 17 May, a 4–1 win over Hertha Berlin, in the season that ended with a league and cup double.

His last appearance for the club was a 3–0 win away at Mohun Bagan in Kolkata on 27 May, where Michael Rensing replaced him in the 55th minute. The proper farewell came on 2 September 2008, a testimonial against a Germany XI at the Allianz Arena that ended 1–1.

After the gloves

Kahn returned to Bayern, this time in the boardroom. It was revealed on 30 August 2019 that he would join the executive board on 1 January 2020, and he took over as chief executive from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on 1 July 2021. On 27 May 2023 Bayern dismissed him, along with sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić, and Jan-Christian Dreesen succeeded him.

Records and recognition

Why he is remembered

Kahn was not graceful and did not try to be. He was once sent off for punching a ball into the net during a corner against Hansa Rostock. But he was also the goalkeeper who consoled an opponent after a shoot-out and who accepted a place on the bench in his own country's World Cup.

He won a Champions League with his hands and lost a World Cup with them. Both are still part of how he is remembered.