Jens Lehmann

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Full Name: Jens Lehmann Current Club: VfB Stuttgart Height/Weight: 193cm (6' 4") Pro Debut: Birthdate: November 10, 1969 Nationality:  Germany Birthplace: Essen, Germany Caps: 61 Primary Position: Goalkeeper International Goals: 0

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[edit] Biography

Lehmann started his career in 1989 with FC Schalke 04, playing for them for nearly a decade. His first years were rocky, notably a 45-minute stint against Bayer Leverkusen in 1993 in which he conceded three goals and was subbed after 45 minutes,^[1] causing him to flee the stadium alone by tram rather than taking the team bus,^[2] but gradually established himself as a strong keeper lauded for his ability to intercept crosses.

He scored his first league goal on March 12, 1995 in a 6-2 victory over TSV 1860 Munchen; in the 84th minute, he scored Schalke's 6th goal from the penalty spot^[3]. His second goal was scored on December 19, 1997, a last-minute equaliser against Borussia Dortmund, Schalke's rivals and the club he would join just fourteen months later^[4].

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 2001-02. 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 as a replacement for David Seaman, and played every match as Arsenal went unbeaten for the entire '03-04 FA Premier League campaign, becoming the first English club to accomplish this feat since the 1880s. However, Lehmann's confident, aggressive style of play, often coming out of his goal to intercept passes occasionally led to mistakes, such as 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,^[5] and made mistakes that led to both goals in Arsenal's Champions League defeat at home to Chelsea the same season.^[6]

but He helped Arsenal to keep its national record in Longest unbeaten League run (49 league matches unbeaten) when He stopped a penalty kick against Everton in the last minutes from the match in January 7, 2004. The match ended (1-1) and Arsenal continued unbeaten untile October 24, 2004 when it lost to Manchester United ( 0-2 ).

By the middle of the 2004-05 season, Lehmann was no longer automatic first-choice, with Spaniard Manuel Almunia starting in several matches instead. However, Almunia made a series of mistakes himself, thus allowing Lehmann to regain his position. At the end of that season, as speculation again began to mount that he would be replaced over the summer, Lehmann cemented his position in the Arsenal goal 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 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, breaking the record of seven that Milan had set just one year before. That run formed the bulk of an 853-minute spell without conceding a goal, overtaking the CL record for an individual goalkeeper set by Edwin van der Sar.

Bayern Munich's Hasan Salihamidžić had been the last to net against Lehmann, in the 64th minute of a quarter-final first leg match on March 22, 2005; Lehmann kept a clean sheet in the second leg, and then a further seven during Arsenal's run in 2005-06 (Almunia played in the other three matches); the final clean sheet was earned in the semi-finals against Villarreal, after Lehmann saved an 89th minute Juan Roman Riquelme penalty. Lehmann maintained his shutout run despite an ignominious end to his 2006 UEFA Champions League Final against FC Barcelona; with the score still at 0-0 he was sent off in the 18th minute for a professional foul after bringing down Samuel Eto'o, making him the first player and goalkeeper to ever be sent off in a Champions League final, but it didn't stop him from being named the Champions League Goalkeeper of the Year for the 2005-06 season after going more than 500 munutes without conceeding.

His remarkable run was finally ended on September 13, 2006 by Hamburger SV's Boubacar Sanogo, who scored a consolation goal in the 89th minute of Arsenal's first group stage match of the 2006-07 Champions League season.

Lehmann's contract at Arsenal was due to expire in summer 2007 and during the 2006-07 season there was much speculation he would leave the club on a Bosman transfer. However it was reported on April 26, 2007 that he had signed a year's extension on his contract, tying him to the club until 2008.^[7]

[edit] International career

Lehmann made his debut for the national team against Oman in February 1998 and has since earned 39 (as of August 16,2006) 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 Jurgen Klinsmann announced that Lehmann would be Germany's first-choice goalkeeper for the upcoming World Cup.

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 3-0-0 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 loose 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, with which Lehmann was content.

The highlight of Lehmann's international career came in the 2006 World Cup quarterfinal match (June 30, 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. Before the last shot from Cambiasso, Lehmann looked at the paper for a long time even though Cambiasso's name was not even on it. The story around the paper features in the film "Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen". Lehmann was considered a hero by the German public after these saves, and he received praise even from long-time rival Oliver Kahn. ^[8]

In August 2006 Lehmann revealed that during the World Cup he was suffering with a foot injury that he claims was a result of wearing different boots. The German Football Association ordered their players to wear only those manufactured by principal sponsor Adidas as opposed to Lehmann's sponsor Nike. Defender Christian Worns had been dropped from the national team in 2005 after refusing to train in Adidas boots. This has now been overturned thanks to Lehmann and several other players protesting about the decision and the players are now free to wear boots made by other companies.

In August 2006, Lehmann suggested that he may retire from league and international football after playing for Germany in Euro 2008.^[9] However, he subsequently stated in January 2007 that he has not made any decision on retirement. ^[10]

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[edit] Statistics

[edit] Honors

• Best European Goalkeeper :1997, 2006
• German champions Bundesliga: 2002
• First Division and Premier League titles: 2003–04
• FA Cup: 2004–05
• Charity Shields and Community Shields[53]: 2004
• UEFA Champions League:Runners-up: 2005–06
• Amsterdam Cup (2007)
• Emirates Cup (2007)
• UEFA Cup:1996-1997
• FIFA World Cup:Runners-up 2002 , third place 2006
• UEFA Club Football Awards:best goalkeeper 2005-2007
• IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper:2nd Place: 2006

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