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Undisputed No. 1 Kahn is first keeper to be nominated for top awardPosted: Saturday December 14, 2002 8:30 AMUpdated: Saturday December 14, 2002 8:50 AM BERLIN (Reuters) -- Oliver Kahn, whose superb reflexes and raw determination inspired Germany's World Cup revival, could reach new heights by becoming the first goalkeeper to receive the FIFA Player of the Year award. The German, who faces Brazilian striker Ronaldo and French midfielder Zinedine Zidane for the distinction to be awarded in Madrid on December 17, is the first goalkeeper to be shortlisted for the prize since its introduction in 1991. Making history would be nothing new for the 33-year-old Germany and Bayern Munich skipper, already the first goalkeeper to have won the Golden Ball award for the best player at a World Cup. That honor crowned his performance in South Korea and Japan, where he remained faultless until the Yokohama final, in which Brazil beat Germany 2-0 courtesy of two Ronaldo goals. The final itself turned into a nightmare for Kahn, whose blunder enabled Ronaldo to open the scoring. He also sustained a hand injury in the game that kept him sidelined for several weeks. But he had done enough before the Yokohama showdown to live up to his reputation as the world's most intimidating goalkeeper. King Kahn, as the German fans like to call him, not only stopped everything thrown at him but also proved a great motivator, saying from the start of the tournament that Germany, regarded by many as below par, had the right to be ambitious. Obsessed with perfection Once a frail teenager with limited skills, Kahn was regarded as average in his early years and had to wait patiently while first Bodo Illgner then Andreas Koepke kept the Germany job. Kahn, who was obsessed with perfection from an early age and used to wake his father up on Sunday mornings because he wanted to train, became his country's undisputed number one only once Koepke had retired after the 1998 World Cup in France. Not unlike Peter Schmeichel with the same massive frame and shock of blond hair, Kahn, who hardly ever smiles even when he cracks a joke, replaced the former Manchester United and Denmark great as arguably the world's best goalkeeper with a fantastic season at Bayern last year. He saved three penalties in the Champions League final shootout to hand Bayern Munich victory over Valencia and his rise continued at the World Cup. For years a discreet family man, he started to change after Bayern's Champions League triumph. Wearing designer clothes and sporting a fancy haircut, he appeared frequently in television shows and advertising campaigns. He also bought a Ferrari. "I think he's lost it a bit," Schalke midfielder Andreas Moeller said of Kahn before the World Cup. Since that statement, Kahn has crashed back to earth but his revised image as less than superhuman has not necessarily done him any harm. Nasty foul The Bayern skipper, who has a reputation for losing his temper, first came under fire for a nasty foul in the Bundesliga, after which some observers questioned whether he should remain as the national team's captain. Kahn reacted to the criticism by offering to give back his armband but never really apologized for grabbing the neck of Leverkusen striker Thomas Brdaric, who said after the game that he had feared for his life. He then ran into more trouble when he was spotted playing golf and spending the night in a disco while nursing a thigh injury, which earned him a hefty fine from his Bayern bosses. A few uncharacteristic blunders on top of that opened up further chinks in his armour and led him to say that he might retire before the 2006 World Cup on home soil. A few weeks later he made it clear that he would definitely carry on for at least another four years. Bayern commercial manager Uli Hoeness found the right words to describe what had happened to a man wrongly perceived as a faultless goalkeeping machine with no room for feelings. "Oliver has been extremely disciplined for his whole life," offered the former Germany midfielder. "In the last two years he formed an image of himself that was almost perfect. I think people started seeing him as a machine and a human being cannot be one." Oliver Kahn Factbox1969 - Born in Karlsruhe on June 15. 1990 - Makes Bundesliga debut with Karlsruhe SC 1994 - Joins Bayern Munich for then German record fee of five million marks (US$1.25 million). - Germany's number three keeper behind Bodo Illgner and Andreas Koepke for 1994 World Cup in United States. Does not play. 1995 - June 23, makes international debut against Switzerland in Bern, but has to live through Germany's success in 1996 European Championships and 1998 World Cup as Germany's reserve goalkeeper behind Koepke. 1998 - Becomes Germany's established number one goalkeeper. 1999 - Sets Bundesliga record by keeping clean sheet for 736 minutes. 2000 - Voted German footballer of the year by overwhelming majority and European goalkeeper of the year. 2001 - May 23. Saves three penalties in shootout to secure fifth European Cup success for Bayern in final against Valencia. - Named German player of the season and subsequently German footballer of the year. - Signs three-year extension to contract to keep him at Bayern until 2006. 2002 - Germany coach Rudi Voeller decides Kahn will take over the captaincy from Oliver Bierhoff. - Plays brilliantly as Germany surprisingly reach the World Cup final against Brazil. - Makes a rare error in the 2-0 defeat by Brazil in
Yokohama, but still becomes the first goalkeeper to win the
Golden Ball award for the best player at the World Cup.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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