Oliver Kahn maintained his number one spot for the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, but Germany were once again eliminated in the group stage. Oliver Kahn gave up his captaincy to Michael Ballack after the tournament. Germany's new manager Jürgen Klinsmann, who replaced Rudi Völler, adopted the strategy of rotating the number one spot between Kahn and his longtime competitor, Jens Lehmann of Arsenal, to stimulate competition between the two. On 7 April 2006, after two years of dispute for the position Klinsmann announced Lehmann was his first-choice goalkeeper for the 2006 World Cup. Kahn decided to stay on as a backup
Oliver Kahn At the age of six, Kahn joined Karlsruher SC, where his father Rolf had played from 1962 to 1965. He started as an outfield player before becoming goalkeeper. Kahn was included in the team's professional squad in the 1987–88 season of the first Bundesliga division, at first being the reserve goalkeeper behind Alexander Famulla. On 27 November 1987, Kahn made his league debut in a 4–0 away defeat to 1. FC Köln. However, not until 1990 did manager Winfried Schäfer decide to start him over Famulla. In the following years, Kahn established himself as the team's starting goalkeeper. He was