#2 Oliver Kahn:
Oliver Kahn was the embodiment of German excellence for much of the late 90s and early noughties of this century. In a period when Germany had a comparatively barren streak at producing world-class players, Kahn and Michael Ballack were the gold standard for German football and dragged them to relevance in major international tournaments.
After plying his trade for Karlsruher SC (his boyhood club) for 7 seasons, he earned the big move to Bayern, where he immediately established himself as their starting goalkeeper after the departure of Raimond Aumann. Although he ruptured ligaments midway into the season, he made a comeback to the XI the following season, starting to show the brilliance that would last a long time into his career.
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Over the course of his Bayern career, Kahn won a Champions League title, a UEFA Cup and an Intercontinental Cup, but more importantly, he won 8 Bundesligas and 6 Pokal titles and helped to reestablish Bayern at the very forefront of German football, as they were in the 1970s.
He had the typical goalkeeper’s personality: charismatic, animated, yet calm, and has been the subject of a number of Internet trolls for some of his shouting matches with his defenders. For most of his career, Kahn ranked among the very best in the world and was awarded the trophy of ‘Best Goalkeeper in the World’ by IFFHS 3 times, and the title of Best European Goalkeeper 4 times.
He is also the only goalkeeper to finish twice on the Ballon D’Or podium, voted at the 3rd position in the years 2001 and 2002. His legacy at Bayern is unchallenged, and he is generally accepted as the best goalkeeper to serve the club in their history.
