By sportswriter Xiao Shiyao and Lin Deren
BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Legendary German goalkeeper and soon-to-be Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn told Xinhua in a recent interview that the young keepers in the national team can fight hard but should always "stay fair and play fair."
"Only one goalkeeper can play in the game. There is no space for two goalkeepers," Kahn, who is the first-ever goalkeeper to win FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, said of the disputes as Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen expressed dissatisfaction with his backup role to German No. 1 Manuel Neuer last month.
"We goalkeepers always fight very hard. When we are young people, you can fight hard, you can be very ambitious, but you should always stay fair and play fair," the 50-year-old noted.
In the 2006 Germany World Cup, when Jurgen Klinsmann, the then German coach, appointed Jens Lehmann as the starting goalkeeper on the home soil to replace Kahn, the former German captain chose to respect the coach's decision and support his teammates on the bench.
"In the quarterfinal against Argentina, I was sitting on the bench and Jens was preparing himself for the penalty shoot out. I went over to Jens shaking his hands: "now it's your moment, try to catch as many penalties as you can," Kahn recalled. "This is what we learn in sports. That is the deepest sense of football and the deepest sense of sport."
Kahn hang up his boots in the year of 2008 but is still not finished with football. In August of this year, Bayern Munich announced that he has been appointed to the executive board, and will take over as the club CEO in January 2022.
"I know the club. I know all the characteristics, the persons and the style of the club, it's very important," said Kahn, who had spent 14 years in the German powerhouse, winning the Champions League in 2001. "On the other hand, there are a lot of challenges to lead a club with a lot of revenue at the moment. I'm quite excited. But it's on January [of 2022], I will enjoy my life now."
The iconic goalkeeper, who is known as "the Lion" in China, has been named a guest professor at Beijing Sports University to deepen cooperation in goalkeeping education, which Kahn called "an honor."
"I found the company 'goalplay' four years ago. The big vision is to make the goalkeepers all over the world better. If you want to make your team better in a short period of time, the best way to do that is to have a good goalkeeper. we are working here together with several partners in China," he said.
In addition, the eight-time Bundesliga winner also aims to promote the development of the German top league in China. "The average attendance is more than 40,000 people in the stadium. We have a lot of superstars playing in the Bundesliga now. We have Coutinho for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund also invested in very good players. This is great for all the Chinese football fans," he said.
