Jens Lehmann

For the cyclist of the same name, see Jens Lehmann (cyclist)

Jens Lehmann (IPA—German ) (born November 10 1969 in Essen) is a German football goalkeeper who currently plays for Arsenal of the English Premier League and the German national team; he is regarded by many as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. With his wife Conny he have three children: Mats (*1997), Lasse (*2001) and Lieselotta (*2006).

Club career

Lehmann started his career in 1989 with Schalke 04, playing for them for nearly a decade. His first years were rocky, his nadir an infamous 45-minute stint against Bayer Leverkusen in 1993 in which a clueless Lehmann allowed three howler goals and was subbed after 45 minutes causing him to flee the stadium alone by tram rather than taking the team bus [http://www.faz.net/s/Rub47986C2FBFBD461B8A2C1EC681AD639D/Doc~E336A733D0AD84679B26B9D3C9EEA71AD~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html, but gradually established himself as a strong keeper lauded for his ability to intercept crosses.

Lehmann became the Ruhr Valley club's hero in their 1997 UEFA Cup final victory over Internazionale, after playing a strong season and saving an Ivan Zamorano penalty in a penalty shootout.

He left Schalke for A.C. Milan in 1998, but did not play well and was dropped after just five matches. He returned to Germany to play for Borussia Dortmund, winning the Bundesliga in 2001-2002. A fiery personality with a poor disciplinary record, he holds the Bundesliga record for the number of sendings-off for a goalkeeper (five).

Lehmann joined Arsenal on July 25 2003, and in his first season at the club, played every match as Arsenal won the FA Premier League without a single loss - the first unbeaten domestic campaign for any English club since the 1880s. His temperament again came into question, however, with his gaining of a reputation for reacting excessively under even minimal physical pressure. This was most clearly demonstrated in the title-winning match at local rivals Tottenham Hotspur when Lehmann pushed Tottenham striker Robbie Keane as the pair waited for a Tottenham corner. The referee spotted the incident and awarded Tottenham a penalty - converted by Keane to draw his side level in a match which Arsenal had led 2-0. Arsenal held on at 2-2, through a nerve-wracking final few minutes, to secure the point they needed to become Champions and - though Lehmann absented himself from the immediate celebrations - the (later) completion of the unbeaten season overshadowed the controversy.

Lehmann retains a confident, aggressive style of play, often coming out of his goal to intercept passes; however this has led to other more costly high-profile mistakes when playing for Arsenal, such as their 2004 UEFA Champions League quarter-final loss to Chelsea. By the middle of the 2004-05 season, Lehmann was no longer automatic first-choice, with the Spaniard Manuel Almunia being selected for some matches instead. However, Almunia then began to make a series of mistakes himself, allowing Lehmann to regain his position. At the end of that season, Lehmann cemented his position - as speculation again began to mount that he would be replaced over the summer - with a man-of-the-match performance against Manchester United in the 2005 FA Cup final. He made several important saves and demonstrated great positional sense to keep the score 0-0 after extra time, and then crucially saved Paul Scholes' shot in the penalty shootout, which Arsenal won 5-4.

Lehmann has had an outstanding 2005-06 season with Arsenal, making his 100th Premier League appearance for the club in their game against West Bromwich Albion on April 15 2006. He was a key factor in his side's first-ever accession to the Champions League final; during their run Arsenal broke the record for the most consecutive clean sheets in the Champions League, with ten. Lehmann played in seven of those matches, and broke Edwin van der Sar's individual goalkeeping record in the competition; he has currently played for 645 minutes without conceding a goal. Arsenal's tenth clean sheet was earned in the semi-finals against Villarreal, after Lehmann saved an 89th minute Juan Román Riquelme penalty.

Arsenal managed a fourth place above London rivals Tottenham on the final day of the English Premier league season. Lehmann's performances in the latter half of the season caused him to be one of the best regarded goalkeepers in England.

Ironically, Lehmann's shut-out run continues, despite an ignominious 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. He was sent off in the 18th minute for bringing down Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o to prevent the Cameroonian from scoring (thus committing a professional foul), making him the first player to ever be sent off in a Champions League final. Another Barcelona forward, Ludovic Giuly, then knocked the ball into the empty net, but referee Terje Hauge chose to disallow the goal and red-card Lehmann - a decision which he later admitted was a mistake (given time, he would have chosen to award the goal and show a yellow card to Lehmann.)

International career

Lehmann made his debut for the national team against Oman in February 1998 and has since earned 35 (as of 24th June 2006) caps for his country, most of which were friendlies. He has a well-publicised rivalry with Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, whose presence has long prevented Lehmann from becoming the number one goalkeeper of the German national team. On April 7 2006, however, German national coach Jürgen Klinsmann announced that Lehmann would be Germany's first-choice goalkeeper for the upcoming World Cup - a particularly significant endorsement, given that Germany are the host nation.

Lehmann conceded two goals in Germany's opening match, both scored by Costa Rica's Paulo Wanchope although Germany won the match 4-2. Lehmann played strongly in the next three games, conceding no goals and allowing Germany to sweep their group 3-0 and defeat Sweden convincingly in the Round of 16. Lehmann's shutout streak was broken by Argentina in the quarterfinals, but his team found the equalizer late in the game and Lehmann stopped two shots in the penalty shootout.

Germany's opponent in the semifinals was Italy. The Italians had the better chances to score but Lehmann made several spectacular saves, including one in extra time where he dove out of goal to intercept an Italian player who had broken lose from the defence, punching the ball clear with his fist and temporarily knocking out the Italian in the process. He allowed two goals within a minute of each other with only a few seconds remaining in overtime. However neither of these goals could be blamed on Lehmann, but were caused by Germany's defence playing high up the pitch. These goals put Italy into the World Cup final. The retiring Oliver Kahn was given the honour of starting in the third place match, which Lehmann was content with.

The highlight of Lehmann's international career came in the 2006 World Cup quarterfinal match (30 June 2006, Olympiastadion, Berlin) against Argentina. The game remained tied 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time. The game came down to penalty kicks and Lehmann carried his team through. He made two critical saves of Argentinian penalty kicks, one from Roberto Ayala and another from Esteban Cambiasso, and came close to saving a third. Meanwhile, the Germans made all of the necessary goals to win the penalty kicks 4 - 2. Lehmann's prowess in the shootout was aided by notes given to him before the kicks — an idea from Germany's chief scout, Swiss born Urs Siegenthaler — with Lehmann keeping the paper in his right sock. Lehmann was considered a hero by the German public after these saves, and he received praise even from long-time rival Oliver Kahn.

Trivia

Jens Lehmann is together with Frank Rost the only German goalkeeper who scored a goal in open play, coming in the 90th minute of the Schalke 04 - Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga match on 19 December 1997. From a hotly disputed corner kick, Lehmann knocked the ball in the net from what Dortmund fans believed to be an offside position. The controversial goal gave Schalke a 2-2 draw against their fierce local rivals, which greatly enraged Borussia supporters. When Lehmann joined Borussia Dortmund in 1998, the supporters were still deeply annoyed with him and it took him months to earn their respect.
He is well-known for chewing gum while playing.

External links

Profile at arsenal.com
Statistics at soccerbase.com
Profile at 4thegame.com
Profile at sporting-heroes.net
Profile at premierleague.com

Notes

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Jens Lehmann

Club career

International career

Trivia

External links

Notes