Kahn hailed as world's best goalie after European Cup win

Mike Collett

Oliver Kahn was proclaimed as the world's best goalkeeper after making three saves in the penalty shootout that sealed Bayern Munich's victory over Valencia in the Champions League final at the San Siro on Wednesday.

Bayern lifted the European Cup for the fourth time in their history after the 31-year-old German international made heroic saves from Zlatko Zahovic, Amedeo Carboni and finally Mauricio Pellegrino to give Bayern a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win after the teams ended deadlocked at 1-1 after 120 minutes.

Bayern's club president Franz Beckenbauer, their skipper when they won a hat-trick of European Cups from 1974 to 1976, said: "He was magnificent, he made great saves throughout the tournament and against Valencia he excelled himself. He is the best goalkeeper in the world and deserves a lot of credit for this success."

Former Bayern great Karl-Heinz Rummenigge who skippered their losing European Cup final team of 1982 and is now a club director, added: "I never had any fears even when things weren't going well for us because Oliver Kahn is the best goalkeeper in the world and I was convinced he would lead us to victory".

In the end, after 237 matches and 660 goals in a competition that started with the first qualifying round on July 12 last year, the outcome of club soccer's most prestigious competition was decided by a penalty save.

Kahn, who had already saved from Zahovic, did brilliantly to stop Carboni's effort which he somehow pushed on to the bar.

Although he was beaten four times in the shootout, Kahn then crucially blocked Pellegrino's effort to send some 40,000 Bayern fans into raptures of delight as he was engulfed by his ecstatic team mates.

After winning three straight finals in the seventies, then losing on their next three European Cup final appearances in 1982, 1987 and 1999, Bayern were champions of Europe again and Kahn, voted Man of the Match, was ultimately their saviour.

POIGNANT VICTORY
The victory carried even more poignancy for Kahn and Bayern following their heart-breaking defeat in the 1999 final when they conceded two injury time goals against Manchester United in Barcelona and lost 2-1.

Kahn said: "This is an exceptional sensation, an amazing feeling. The terrible night of Barcelona has never left my mind and every morning since I have woken up and had that defeat in my mind, but now it has been wiped out."

Regarding his saves he added: "You need ability but you need luck as well and perhaps someone on high was helping me, but not just me -- the whole team has achieved a masterpiece".

Tall, well-built and with a shock of blond hair, Kahn bears more than a passing resemblance to Peter Schmeichel, who was in the Manchester United goal that night in Barcelona and was widely regarded as the best keeper in the world in the 1990s.

He is as good a shot-stopper as Schmeichel, although a little more theatrical, but he commands his defence in the same way and presents an awesome barrier for opposing forwards.

WELL-BEATEN
But Kahn could do nothing to stop Gaizka Mendieta giving Valencia a 1-0 lead from the penalty spot after three minutes, although after that he did not have a great deal to do.

Bayern's Mehmet Scholl then missed a sixth minute penalty before their skipper Stefan Effenberg equalised with a 51st minute spot kick.

The match, which started explosively and with both sides playing hugely entertaining football, largely died a death after Effenberg's equaliser and Thursday's Italian sports papers were less than enthusiastic about Bayern's performance.

Corriere dello Sport carried the headline: "If these are the champions..." and left the question hanging in the air, while Gazzetta dello Sport was no more polite.

"Today's Bayern is not even a distant relative of its legendary predecessor of the 1970s, but which, for mysterious reasons, knows how to put itself among the great clubs of Europe and after 25 years has returned to reclaim the most beautiful cup of them all."

But the paper joined in the general acclaim of match-winning hero Kahn: "He saved three penalties and should at least have the next edition of the Munich Oktoberfest dedicated to him," it said.