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Birth date: 6/15/69
Height: 188
Weight:87
Position: goalkeeper
At 30 years old, the tall blond-haired Bayern Munich 'keeper has very little in the way of competition at national team level. In addition, Bayern involvement in Europe has allowed him to gain top level experience facing some of the best strikers in the world.
Capable, and confident, on his line although at times inconsistent when coming out of his immediate area - thus creating potential opportunity for the adversary - Kahn has been a long-serving servant of only two big clubs : Karlsruhe, where he began playing football at the age of 6, and Bayern, where he has played since 1994.
Incidentally, his transfer to Bayern made all the headlines - it was the first time a German club paid as much (5 millions marks, 2.5 millions euros) for a goalkeeper.
Aged 25, Kahn earned his move, having held the fort and gained plenty of first team experience at Karlsruhe since the age of 21. His debuts in Bavaria were not all rosy, however. A collision with teammate Markus Babbel left him on the sidelines for five months, during which time he used his time positively by studying an economics course by correspondence - an interest that he regrets not having the time to enjoy today.
An avid golf fan who follows the stock market and the internet (he was the first German player to have his own web site), Oliver Kahn had the luck of finding one of his boyhood idols at his new club, Sepp Maier.
The legendary ex-Bayern and
national squad 'keeper from the 1970's, an integral part of the Franz
Beckenbauer, Paul Breitner and Gerd Muller era, remained at the club to coach
the team goalkeepers. As a devoted disciple, Kahn never misses an occasion to
aportion some of the credit of his performances to Maier.