Jens Lehmann (German; ; born November 10, 1969 in Essen) is a German football goalkeeper who currently plays for VfB Stuttgart and recently retired from the German national team. He was voted UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year for 2005-06, 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, causing him to flee the stadium alone by tram rather than taking the team bus, but Lehmann 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 München in the 84th minute, scoring Schalke's sixth goal from the penalty spot. His second goal was a last-minute equaliser (from a corner kick that was given incorrectly to Schalke 04, while the goal was scored from an offside position) scored against Borussia Dortmund on December 19, 1997.

Lehmann became Schalke's team 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.

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

He returned to Germany to play for Borussia Dortmund, winning the Bundesliga in 2001–2002. This was the period in which Jens Lehmann rose to fame as a German football icon, winning the German League in the most impressive fashion, beating opponent 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 the BVB secured the national title in 2002.

Arsenal

2003–04 season

Lehmann joined Arsenal on July 25, 2003 as a replacement for David Seaman, and played every match as Arsenal went unbeaten for the entire 2003–04 FA Premier League campaign, 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, and made mistakes that led to both goals in Arsenal's Champions League defeat at home to Chelsea the same season. Arsenal continued unbeaten until October 24, 2004.

2004–05 season

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.

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 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 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.

2006–07 season

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.

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 August 24, 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 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”.

On January 26, 2008, Lehmann appeared in Arsenal's second FA Cup game of the season, keeping his second successive clean sheet as the Gunners 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. On January 29, 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. On February 2, 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 April 13, 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 the Gunners, 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 as was brought on as a substitute for Fabiański in the last 20 minutes of the game against Everton on May 4, 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.

VfB Stuttgart

In early June 2008, it was announced that Lehmann had signed a one-year contract for VfB Stuttgart. He joined the team's pre-season training on 24 July 2008, and made his debut for the club on 30 July 2008 in a friendly match against 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.

International career

Lehmann made his debut for the national team against Oman in February 1998 and has since earned 51 (as of November 22, 2007) 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 72006, 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 stopped two shots in the penalty shootout:

The highlight of Lehmann's international career came in the 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.

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 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. 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 March 26, 2008.

On August 8, 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.

Personal life

Has a son and a daughter with his wife Conny and a stepson.

• Mats (born in 2000)
• Lieselotte (born in 2006)
• Lasse (Conny's son from a prior relationship)

Honours

Club

• Schalke 04
• UEFA Cup: 1997
• AC Milan
• Serie A: 1998-99
• Borussia Dortmund
• Bundesliga: 2001-02
• UEFA Cup Runner-up: 2001-02
• Arsenal
• Premier League: 2003–04
• FA Cup: 2005
• Community Shield: 2004
• UEFA Champions League Runner-up: 2005–06

National Team

• FIFA World Cup Runner-up: 2002
• FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place: 2005
• World Cup Third Place: 2006
• UEFA European Football Championship Runner-up: 2008

Individual

• Best European Goalkeeper: 1997, 2006
• UEFA Club Football Awards Best Goalkeeper: 2005–2006
• IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper Second Place: 2006
• FIFA World Cup awards All-Star Team Goalkeeper: 2006

Career statistics (1998–present)

''' Club Performance

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

References

External links

• Last-minute equaliser against Dortmund
• Profile at arsenal.com
• Profile at 4thegame.com
• Profile at sporting-heroes.net
• Profile at premierleague.com
• Career stats at fussballdaten.de