Kahn in China
June 18, 2009
In sporting terms, there are few people better qualified to front a reality show intended to find a country's best young goalkeeper. Former Germany and Bayern Munich No. 1 and all-round legend-between-the-sticks Oliver Kahn went everywhere and won just about everything in a career which established him as one of soccer's best-ever stoppers.
Which is why Olli the Titan was chosen as the face of "I Never Give Up," his own reality show in China, which is due to be aired for the first time on Thursday, June 18.
The Chinese producers of the show are hoping that the three-time winner of the World's Best Goalkeeper Award and the Best Player at the 2002 World Cup will bring his star quality to the soccer talent show which hopes to find China's best goalkeeper and make that person's dream of being a professional soccer player a reality.
The contestants, aged 17-24, including two women, will compete for the prize of a spot in the German Football Association's elite training academy.
Less honorable skills unlikely to feature
Presumably, the show's creators spent time watching endless videos made up of the best moments from Kahn's glittering career before agreeing to cast him. It's unlikely they would have considered the other side of the great man's game unless they were thinking of adding challenges such as "Bawling the loudest in the face of an error-prone team mate," "Sticking your fingers up the nose of an opponent" or "Character assassination live on camera" to the show's disciplines.
The now retired - but maybe not entirely reformed - Kahn seems a more mellow character since he hung up his gloves at the end of the 2008 season. Given the opportunity to launch into one of his famous withering tirades, Kahn refused to name names when he explained that his show would not be following the blueprints of previous reality programs.
"We don't want to do an empty and meaningless, mindless casting show," he said, without mentioning Heidi Klum, who hosts model search shows in Germany and the US. "And I don't want to be the one who 'talks big' and disses or offends the young candidates when they don't succeed."
Khan to pass on his life skills
Instead, Kahn says, the 10-part series will focus on how the contests reflect "the importance of individuality and personality but most of all, how the contestants handle defeat."
The 10-episode reality series also has something for the viewers. Kahn hopes to show the Chinese people a "road map to success." Not a man known for his lack of self-confidence, Kahn also wants to show how others can use his own principles and apply them to their daily lives in China.
Keep your eyes peeled for lots of young Chinese goalkeepers drinking large German beers and partying with busty barmaids in future.
nda/km/DPA/AFP
Editor: Kate Bowen