Six TV cameras crowd around Oliver Kahn. “As a goalkeeper he achieved just about everything it is possible to achieve: numerous titles, championships and awards. For years he was the best in the world,” Sepp Maier, goalkeeper trainer at Bayern Munich and once Kahn's greatest role model is later to say. But right now there is only one thing the media are interested in: the headlines about the extension of the German trainer Joachim Löw’s contract. Dressed elegantly in a quiet suit and tie, Kahn exudes a stoic sense of calm throughout. Part of the untiring ambition and iron discipline people often praise in him? Kahn spent only thirty minutes at the ispo 2010, the world's largest exhibition of sporting goods, where he was presented with the trophy. Before disappearing, Kahn gave his only exclusive interview.
Mister Kahn, you brought your career as a goalkeeper to an end in 2008. What are you up to nowadays?
A great deal. I commentate on our national team’s games for the German TV channel ZDF - which is great fun. In autumn I started an MBA course, which will keep me busy for the next two years. Alongside this I'm involved in a lot of projects. The ‘Ich schaffs’ (I can do it) project - which involved me visiting youngsters from 12 different Bavarian schools - has just finished. I want to motivate young people, to teach them how to cope with defeat and set-backs. In Shanghai I sit on the jury of the ‘I never give up - the Kahn principle’ casting show, a competition for goalkeepers.
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Why did you pick up the ispo cup just now and not at the dinner in your honor?
There are times when I have to be at university - and even I can't miss them.
What's it like being at university when you're 40? Are you one of many?
Of course, that’s how I see myself. There are certain pre-requisites for doing an MBA: Most of my classmates are over 30 and often highly experienced managers, from whom I am learning a lot.
What is the outlook, the objective behind your doing the Masters?
After playing football for such a long time you need to prevent yourself from falling into a hole – by doing sensible, interesting things. I’m trying to acquire the knowledge I need to exploit all the options open to me, be they at a football club or wherever. And I do have a stake in one or two companies.
Which ones?
Let's not talk about that now; one of my interests is Fan-Orakel, which is being launched in the spring. This is going to be a huge forum on the Internet that gives football fans an opportunity to voice their opinions, which cannot then be manipulated. But in my opinion one thing is fatal: sitting at home on the couch thinking that just because you were once a great footballer, things are always going to pan out the way they did before.
So you’re not planning to rest on your laurels?
No. I always hated it when people patted me on the back. It’s nice, but it soon becomes extremely boring. I prefer to always be doing new things.
What does the ispo cup mean to you?
A lot. Not least because this is the first time a goalkeeper has won it. It’s a great honor for me. I’m pleased that goalkeepers still have such a high standing , especially in Germany. On top of that, there’s a social component to the prize. I just mentioned the ‘Ich schaffs’ project. I think it’s great that social work is valued and rewarded.
As one of the German national team players you are an ambassador for the nation. How are you perceived abroad?
(laughs). Of course people are strongly influenced by what they have seen on the pitch. But that doesn’t necessarily correlate 100% with Oliver Kahn the man. People often equate me with ‘German’ virtues: disciplined, highly ambitious and very much geared towards quality.
We’re at the world’s biggest exhibition of sporting goods: how important was your kit throughout your career?
As a professional sportsman, equipment naturally played a huge role, as a keeper especially the gloves and boots. I always wanted a blue strip – it brought me good luck, I was wearing it when we won the Champions’ League. By the way, Sepp Maier, who will be holding the speech in my honor tonight, was also wearing a blue strip when he won the 1974 World Cup.
Do you have a favorite product?
(laughs). I was a nightmare for Adidas: For my entire career, 22 years, I wore the same model of boots – ‘The World Cup’.
Thank you very much!
Oliver Kahn then surprised everyone by attending the dinner in the dignified Goeblin Hall at Lehnbach Haus with 220 VIPs from across the world. Sepp Maier held a very warm-hearted speech in Kahn's honor. It was as if an uncle was recounting how a small blond boy had become a global superstar, ‘when Oliver wanted to play in the boys’ team he asked me for a blue goalkeeper’s strip. And that’s how I unwittingly became the first sponsor of today’s prize winner.’ He gave an account of how former Bayern manager Uli Hoeneß once summoned him into his office in 1994 saying, ‘Sepp, I've bought you a gem; forge him into a diamond.’ And then Maier announced, ‘Dear Oliver, not my 20 years as an active player but my 14 with you were the nicest at Bayern. Thank you, and congratulations on winning the 2010 ISPO CUP!
Joachim Schirrmacher lives and works in Hamburg as a consultant and author to the fashion and design world.
(www.joachim-schirrmacher.de)
Oliver Kahn
Oliver Kahn is the most successful German goalkeeper of all time. In 1994 he transferred to record-winning champions Bayern Munich for 4.6 million Deutschmarks, at the time the largest transfer fee ever paid for a goal keeper in the Bundesliga.
In the summer 2008, after a total of 22 years as a professional footballer, Oliver Kahn brought his successful career to an end. He can look back on a total of 864 games, 557 in the Bundesliga and 424 with Bayern Munich - 86 as German national keeper and 141 games in the European Cup and Champions League.
He was voted Best Federal League Goalkeeper five times, World’s Best Goalkeeper three times, Best European Goalkeeper four times, and German Football Player of the Year twice. Together with his clubs he won the German championship eight times, the League Cup six times, the DFB Cup six times, the UEFA Cup once, as well as a Champions' League title and one World Cup. With the national team he placed third in the Confed. Cup European Champion, second in the 2002 World Cup and third in the 2006 World Cup.
Kahn is an ambassador for the 2018 Ryder Cup - the world's most prestigious golfing tournament - to be held in Germany.
Ispo Cup
Since 1970 the ispo cup, an honorary award involving no money, has been presented to top sports personalities such as Max Schmeling (1972), Pele (Brazil, 1983), Franz Beckenbauer (1990), Eddy Merckx (Belgium, 1993) and Li Ning (China, 2001) who, following the end of their careers, have gone on to act as role models for young people.
