Germany legend Oliver Kahn will retire this weekend - and for a goalkeeper who has achieved so much, it is strangely fitting that his enduring image will be the forlorn figure sitting by the goal after his mistake led to the country's 2002 World Cup final defeat.

Kahn, whose final match will be against Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday, spent most of his 21-year career thriving on abuse as well 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 shot-stopper, who joined from his hometown club Karlsruhe in 1994, won his eighth Bundesliga title and sixth German Cup this season with Bayern.

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 'keeper.

"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 is our most important player of the last decade."

Kahn is exactly the sort of player rival fans love to hate. Known in Germany as King Kahn - an apt description, given his penchant for celebrating with a roar and raised fists - he is desperate to win every competition that he competes in, often speaking out against team-mates as well as rivals when he does not believe they are giving their all.

But there have been times too when fans from Germany and across the world have taken Kahn to their hearts.

In 1999 Kahn's Bayern team lost the Champions league final to Manchester United after an incredible finale that saw the Premier League side score twice in the dying seconds.

There was a wave of sympathy for Bayern and Kahn in particular from fans who would normally revel in their failures.

At the World Cup in 2002, Kahn led Germany to the final almost single-handedly but there made his first mistake of the tournament, allowing Ronaldo to score his first goal.

Brazil went on to win 2-0 and Kahn looked utterly distraught as he sat against a post at the end of the game.

Four years later, Kahn was heartbroken again when Juergen Klinsmann informed him Jens Lehmann, his great rival, would be his first-choice goalkeeper at the World Cup.

A devastated Kahn accepted the number two role in the squad and was hailed as a model of sportsmanship for his attitude.

"It's funny," Kahn observed. "Throughout my career I've been renowned for fighting to be the best but now, when I settle for second, everyone calls me a hero."

Kahn was rewarded with his 86th and final cap in the third-place play-off victory over Portugal.

"Despite our rivalry your attitude always really impressed me," Lehmann said of Kahn this week.

"I knew I could never let up because there was someone there training even harder to be the best. I admire you and wish you well for the future."

Kahn will be given a rare honour in September when Bayern take on the German national team in a testimonial match.

His competitive career will by then be over, but you can still bet that if he concedes a goal he will be screaming at his defenders with the same anger and frustration as ever.

Reuters