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Kahn takes final bow from soccer
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NewsByte on 28 May, 2008 02:47:23
 
Legendary German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn took his final bow from competitive
soccer before a capacity 1.20 lakh crowd at Yuva Bharati Krirangan as Bayern
Munich blanked Mohun Bagan 3-0 in a friendly match in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Kahn, who turns 40 in June 2008, handed over the gloves to youngster Michael
Rensing in the 55th minute of the match and took a seat in the reserve bench as
the entire stadium stood up to give a sentimental farewell to one of the best
goalkeepers of contemporary soccer, thousands of miles away from his home.
"It is a very special moment for me. Thank you for the great night," the golden
ball winner of the 2002 World Cup said during the half time break as he was
showered with gifts by match organiser Bengal Peerless, Mohun Bagan and the
Indian Footbal Association.
The match lacked the spark with the far too superior Bayern playing a
percentage game, enough for them to end their post season Asian tour with
emphatic scoreline. Zanschlaudraff, shot a brace while Brazilian Ze Roberto
netted one for the winners who led 2-0 at lemon time.
However, the spirit of the match, which had aroused keen interest worldwide, as
it marked Kahn's swan song, was somewhat marred when Bayern's Breno and
substitute Branco Cardozo of Bagan were red carded for unseemly behaviour by
referee Subrata Sarkar eight minutes from the final whistle.
After having a measure of their opponents in the first few minutes, Bayern
established midfield control with medio Mark Van Bommel and Ze Roberto dictating
terms on their rivals.
The fancied outfit shot into the lead in the 18th minute thorough a freak goal.
Schlaudraff cut into the box, looking dangerous, and a desperate Anand Vasan
tried to thwart him with a close tackle, but only managed a deflection back to
the German, who shot home.
Bayern doubled the lead 19 minutes later from a set piece. Ze Roberto let loose
a curling left-footed free kick which foxed the wall and entered the net to the
left of Bagan goalie Sangram Mukherjee who seemed to be totally clueless.
The insurance goal came in the 52nd minute when Schlaudraff finished off a
measured pass from upfronter Christian Lell.
Bayern held sway, and could have returned home with a bigger margin but for
Sangram, who brought off a couple of good saves.