German keeper Kahn hosts China reality show
A Chinese television reality show hosted by former German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was scheduled opened on Thursday (18 June). Kahn's 10-week show, "I never give up", gives aspiring young Chinese goalkeepers the chance to win a place at the German Football Federation's (DFB) top training academy Berger Feld Schule.
Heilongjiang Satellite TV, based in the north-eastern city of Harbin, aired the first programme on Thursday night.
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- Oliver Kahn on a function during last month's Asia tour of the German National Team
- (© picture-alliance/dpa)
Kahn, 40, who retired from playing with Bayern Munich last year, reportedly said he will be gentle with the competitors and avoid the blunt criticisms and public humiliation that have featured in similar reality shows such as The Apprentice and Pop Idol.
The show aims to reflect the "importance of individuality and personality but most of all, how the contestants handle defeat", the official China Daily newspaper quoted Kahn as saying. "We don't want to do an empty and meaningless, mindless casting show," he said. "And I don't want to be the one who 'talks big' and disses or offends the young candidates when they don't succeed," Kahn said. The newspaper quoted him as saying he wanted Chinese viewers to see how his principles could be used in everyday life to build a "roadmap to success".
Kahn made 557 Bundesliga appearances, winning more than a dozen domestic and European trophies, and was voted the world's best goalkeeper of the year three times.
The show features 10 goalkeepers aged 17 to 24, including two women. "The experience is great, the boys want to know so much, they soak everything in and want to improve," Kahn said in Shanghai last month.
Kahn said he hoped the TV series would help promote the Bundesliga in China, where its estimated market share of football television viewers is only about 0.3 per cent. The German national team visited China for the same reason last month, playing a friendly international on May 29 in Shanghai which ended in a 1-1 draw.
