Oliver Kahn

Karlsruher SC

At the age of six, Kahn joined Karlsruher SC, 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. However, not until 1990 did manager Winfried Schäfer 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. During the round of sixteen the team accomplished a 7–0 rout of Valencia at its home field after losing the first match 1–3 at the Mestalla Stadium. The game was nicknamed the "Miracle at Wildparkstadion" by the German media. The team was defeated by SV Austria Salzburg in the semi-final.

Bayern Munich

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 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, which kept him off the field for almost six months, Kahn made his…

Kahn was initially called for the Germany national team as a late back-up for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as third keeper behind veteran starter Bodo Illgner and Andreas Köpke; however he made his first international appearance on 23 June 1995 in a 2–1 victory against Switzerland, two months after recovering from his cruciate ligament injury. Along with Oliver Reck, Kahn was a reserve keeper of the squad, which won the 1996 UEFA European Championship in England, as the back-up to the now starting keeper Köpke.

Kahn spent the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France on the bench, and it was not until Köpke announced his retirement at the end of the tournament that Kahn became the starting goalkeeper. Two years after UEFA Euro 2000, in which defending champions Germany made an embarrassing exit in the group stage, Kahn received the squad's captaincy, succeeding the striker Oliver Bierhoff. 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. However, they were routed 5–1, including a hat-trick by Michael Owen. 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,…

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 is "The Titan"; he was also frequently nicknamed "King Kahn" throughout his career.

Kahn was born in Karlsruhe. He is partly of Latvian descent; his father Rolf was born in Liepāja in 1943, where he remains well-known, to a Latvian mother, Ērika Alksne, and a Baltic German 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, 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. 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 degree in 2012. His thesis topic was "Strategic management in Germany's professional football". Kahn developed a strong interest in golf during his football career and continued playing it after retirement. He credited Sepp Maier with introducing him to the sport and called Tiger Woods one of the…