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Jens Lehmann

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For the German cyclist, see Jens Lehmann (cyclist).
Jens Lehmann
Personal information
Full name Jens Lehmann
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 VfB Stuttgart
Number 1
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 June 2008

Jens Lehmann (German pronunciation: [ˈjɛns ˈleːman]; born 10 November 1969 in Essen) is a German football goalkeeper who plays for VfB Stuttgart and recently retired from the German national team. He was voted UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year for the 1996-97 and 2005–06 seasons, and he has been selected for three World Cup squads.

Club career

Schalke 04

Lehmann started his career in 1988 with Schalke 04, playing for them for nearly a decade. His first years were rocky, notably a game against Bayer Leverkusen in 1993 in which he conceded three goals and was substituted after 45 minutes,[1] causing him to flee the stadium alone by tram rather than taking the team bus,[2] but Lehmann gradually established himself as a strong keeper lauded for his ability to intercept crosses.

He scored his first league goal on 12 March 1995 in a 6–2 victory over 1860 Munich in the 84th minute, scoring Schalke's sixth goal from the penalty spot.[3] His second goal was a last-minute equaliser scored against Borussia Dortmund on 19 December 1997.[4]

Lehmann became Schalke's team hero in their 1997 UEFA Cup Final victory over Internazionale, after playing a strong season and saving an Iván Zamorano penalty in a penalty shootout.

A.C. Milan

He left Schalke for A.C. Milan in 1998, but did not play well and was dropped after just five matches. Believing he wouldn't get another chance at Milan he left during the winter.

Borussia Dortmund

In late 1999, Lehmann returned to Germany to play for Borussia Dortmund replacing long-time goalkeeper Stefan Klos. Lehmann contributed significantly to the team's return to success, winning the Bundesliga in 2001–02 and reaching the final of the UEFA-Cup that same year which the team lost in a fierce battle with Dutch club Feyenord Rotterdam. It was the same season during which Jens Lehmann rose to fame as a German football icon with a poor disciplinary record. During a match against SC Freiburg, Lehmann kicked an opposing offender after they collided in the penalty area. Lehmann was eventually suspended for several matches. During his ban, Borussia Dortmund lost ground to title-rival Bayer 04 Leverkusen. It was not until Lehmann's return that Borussia Dortmund came back winning the German League in an impressive fashion, eventually triumphing over Bayer 04 Leverkusen which led the league by five points with only three matches left in the season. Beating 1. FC Köln, Hamburger SV and Werder Bremen consecutively, Jens Lehmann and Borussia Dortmund secured the national title in 2002.

Arsenal

2003–04 season

Lehmann joined Arsenal on 25 July 2003 as a replacement for David Seaman, and played every match as Arsenal F.C. went unbeaten for the entire 2003–04 English Premier League season, becoming the first English club to accomplish this feat since Preston North End F.C. in the 1888-89 season. However, Lehmann's 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 a mistake that led to the equalising goal in Arsenal's Champions League defeat at home to Chelsea the same season.[6] Arsenal continued unbeaten until 24 October 2004. At the end of his first season at Arsenal, he had already played 54 times earning himself a Premier League winners medal at the end of the season.

2004–05 season

By the middle of the 2004–05 season, Lehmann did not play well, and 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.

2005–06 season

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 15 April 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 22 March 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 five matches in the group stages). The final clean sheet was earned in the semi-finals against Villarreal, after Lehmann saved an 89th minute Juan Román 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 did not stop him from being named the Champions League Goalkeeper of the Year for the 2005–06 season after going more than 850 minutes without conceding a goal.

Lehmann diving to save a shot during a warm-up.

2006–07 season

His remarkable run was finally ended on 13 September 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 26 April 2007 that he had signed a year's extension on his contract, tying him to the club until 2008.[7]

2007–08 season

In the first league game of the 2007–08 season, Lehmann made a serious error after just 52 seconds, allowing David Healy to score for Fulham. However, Lehmann's blushes were spared late in the game as Arsenal won 2–1; in his second league match against Blackburn Rovers he fumbled a David Dunn shot to allow Blackburn to equalise, in a game that finished 1–1. On 24 August, the BBC reported that he returned to Germany to treat an Achilles tendon injury which he picked up during international duty against England, meaning Manuel Almunia took his place for Arsenal's third match.

Lehmann subsequently had to wait nearly four months to make another competitive appearance for Arsenal, in their final Champions League group match against Steaua Bucharest. Nearly one month later, he played only his fifth competitive game of the season for Arsenal, against Burnley in the third round of the FA Cup; third-choice goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański has covered during League Cup games. Lehmann has expressed frustration at being number two to Manuel Almunia[8] as this could cost him the number one slot in the German national team for the European Championship 2008, leading to doubts over his future at the club. However, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has described Lehmann's attitude during this time as “super-professional”.[9]

On 26 January 2008, Lehmann appeared in Arsenal's second FA Cup game of the season, keeping his second successive clean sheet as Arsenal beat Newcastle United 3–0. Manager Arsène Wenger later promised Lehmann that, if he stays at Arsenal, he will play every game in the FA Cup.[10] On 29 January 2008, Lehmann suggested that he will stick with Arsenal until his contract expires at the end of the season. Lehmann gave his reasons as his relationship with the fans, players, family situations and his chance to still be able to win things at the club; believing he "wouldn’t have had this chance somewhere else."[11] On 2 February 2008, following an injury to Almunia, Lehmann returned in goal for Arsenal in the Premiership for an away fixture against Manchester City, more than five months after his last league appearance; Arsenal won the match 3–1. Due to Almunia catching flu straight after the injury, Lehmann kept his place in goal for the following three matches in February, including the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 against AC Milan, but also the 4-0 loss to arch rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup.

After another injury to Almunia in early April 2008, Lehmann was back in goal for the away game against Manchester United on 13 April 2008. Arsenal lost that game 2-1, virtually ending their Premier League title hopes for the season, which is their third consecutive season without a major trophy. There was speculation that would be his last game for Arsenal, but on April 18, 2008, Arsène Wenger confirmed Almunia was still out and Lehmann would play in the following day's home game against Reading, which Arsenal won 2-0. The following week, Łukasz Fabiański was given his Premier League debut against Derby County and Almunia returned to the bench for the game. However, Lehmann made another appearance and was brought on as a substitute for Fabiański in the last 20 minutes of the game against Everton on 4 May 2008, Arsenal's final home game of the season. He was given a standing ovation at the final whistle as he bowed and clapped to the fans. Later that day, Wenger confirmed that it was Lehmann's farewell appearance.[12]

VfB Stuttgart

In early June 2008, it was announced that Lehmann had signed a one-year contract for VfB Stuttgart.[13] He joined the team's pre-season training on 24 July 2008,[14] and made his debut for the club on 30 July 2008 in a friendly match against former team Arsenal. His competitive debut for the club came on 10 August 2008 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, a 5-0 away victory over FC Hansa Lüneburg, and his Bundesliga debut one week later in Stuttgart's 3-1 away victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach.

On 3 April 2009 Lehmann extended his contract at VfB Stuttgart until the summer of 2010[15] and announced on 18 August 2009 he would retire on 30 June 2010[16].

International career

Lehmann made his debut for the national team against Oman in February 1998 and has since earned 61 caps for his country, most of which were friendlies. He has a well-publicised rivalry with former Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn whose presence has long prevented Lehmann from becoming the number one goalkeeper of the German national team. On 7 April 2006, however, German national coach Jürgen 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 of the World Cup, 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 undefeated and beat Sweden convincingly in the Round of 16. Lehmann's streak of clean sheets was broken by Argentina in the quarterfinals, but his team found an equaliser late in the game and Lehmann expertly stopped two shots in the penalty shootout:

The highlight of Lehmann's international career came in the 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. He managed to pick the right direction for all the penalties, and came close to saving a third. Meanwhile, the Germans made all 4 of the necessary penalties to win the penalty shoot-out 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.[17]

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 dived out of goal to intercept an Italian player who had broken loose from the defense, 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, which 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.

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. 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.[18] However, he subsequently stated in January 2007 that he has not made any decision on retirement.

Lehmann set a national team record of not conceding a goal for 621 minutes in a friendly against Switzerland on 26 March 2008.

On 8 August 2008, Lehmann announced his retirement from international football. He made his decision following a two-hour talk with the German national team's coach Joachim Löw and goalkeeping coach Andreas Köpke, stating that he was not able to give them any guarantee that he will continue to play football following the end of his one-year contract with VfB Stuttgart in June 2009.[19] On 4 April 2009 he announced his comeback to play for the Germany national football team, he dreams of the starting goalkeeper role at 2010 FIFA World Cup[20][21].

Personal life

With his wife Conny, Lehmann has two children, Mats and Lieselotta, as well as a stepson, Lasse.

Honours

Schalke

A.C. Milan

Borussia Dortmund

Arsenal

International

Individual

Career statistics (1998–present)

Club Performance[23][24][25]
Club Season Premiership FA Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Arsenal 2007–08 7 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 13 0
2006–07 36 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 44 0
2005–06 38 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 1 0 47 0
2004–05 28 0 5 0 0 0 7 0 1 0 41 0
2003–04 38 0 5 0 0 0 10 0 1 0 54 0
Subtotal 147 0 13 0 0 0 36 0 3 0 199 0
Club Season Bundesliga DFB-Pokal Ligapokal Europe Others Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Borussia Dortmund 2002–03 24 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 — — 36 0
2001–02 30 0 0 0 2 0 11 0 — — 44 0
2000–01 31 0 — — — — 0 0 — — 31? 0
1999–00 31 0 — — 2 0 — — — — 33? 0
1998–99 13 0 — — — — 0 0 — — 13? 0
Subtotal 129 0 0? 0 4? 0 23? 0 — — 157? 0
Club Season Serie A — — — — Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
A.C. Milan 1998–99 5 0 — — — — — — — — 5 0
Subtotal 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
Grand total 281 0 13 0 4? 0 57? 0 3 0 361? 0

References

  1. ^ "Bayer Leverkusen - FC Schalke 04" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  2. ^ Peter Heß (8 June 2006). "Vom Libero zum Titan?" (in German). FAZ.NET. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  3. ^ "FC Schalke 04 - TSV 1860 München" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  4. ^ "Borussia Dortmund - FC Schalke 04" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  5. ^ "Arsenal clinch title". BBC. 25 April 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  6. ^ "Hot-headed German Goalie Faces London Bench". Deutsche Welle. 9 April 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  7. ^ "Lehmann pens new Arsenal contract". BBC. 27 April 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  8. ^ "Jens Lehmann angry with secondary role". Times Online. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
  9. ^ "Jens Lehmann calls the shots on Arsenal future". Telegraph. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
  10. ^ "Wenger - I've promised Lehmann FA Cup ties". Arsenal.com. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  11. ^ "Lehmann - I think I have a chance to win things". Arsenal.com. 29 January 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  12. ^ "Wenger: 'You could see it was an end of season game'". Arsenal.com. 4 May 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2008.
  13. ^ "Jens Lehmann signs for VfB". vfb.de. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  14. ^ "All eyes on Lehmann". vfb.de. 24 July 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
  15. ^ "Lehmann signs one year extension". vfb.de. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  16. ^ Lehmann will am Saisonende definitiv aufhören
  17. ^ "Lehmann had penalty taker notes". BBC news report. 1 July 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2006.
  18. ^ "Lehmann plans to retire after Euro 2008". The Hindu News Update Service. 14 August 2006. Retrieved 14 August 2006.
  19. ^ "Veteran Lehmann ends international career". CNN. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  20. ^ Lehmann bleibt beim VfB: «WM in Südafrika wäre Anreiz»
  21. ^ Lehmann glaubt weiter an Comeback im DFB-Trikot
  22. ^ http://ripple.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/programme-voice-of-arsenal
  23. ^ "Fussballdaten profile" (in German). Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  24. ^ "FootballDatabase.com profile". Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  25. ^ "Soccerbase profile". Retrieved 1 December 2007.


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