Colossus Kahn brings bittersweet career to an end

By Kevin Fylan

HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - For a man who has achieved so much, it's strangely fitting that the enduring image of Oliver Kahn will be the forlorn figure who sat by the goal after his mistake led to Germany's 2002 World Cup final defeat.

Kahn, who plays his final competitive game on Saturday when Bayern Munich host Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga, spent most of his 21-year career thriving on abuse as much as admiration.

And while Bayern fans have always loved him, it was only when he experienced failure and defeat that the rest of Germany finally warmed to him.

The 38-year-old, who moved to Bayern from his home town club Karlsruhe in 1994, retires after winning his eighth Bundesliga championship and sixth German Cup.

He was man of the match in the Champions League final victory over Valencia in 2001, was named best player of the World Cup in 2002 and world goalkeeper of the year three times.

Saturday's game in Munich will be his 557th Bundesliga match, a record for a goalkeeper.

"We'd never have won the Champions League without Kahn's performances, and his character and desire off the field," Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said recently. "He's our most important player of the last decade."

Kahn is exactly the sort of player rival fans love to hate.