Print

Mail

wiki links

Germany's goalkeepers get hostile

Oliver Kahn, left, and Jens Lehmann during a training session for the German national team in Castrop-Rauxel, Germany, on Nov. 18, 2002. PHOTO: AP

Germany coach Rudi Voeller knows he is lucky to be spoilt for choice in goal, but having two world-class keepers in Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann also produces problems.

Voeller has to act as peacemaker between the two men, who rarely speak to each other.

Voeller is under pressure to take sanctions against Lehmann, who has said publicly that he should be No. 1 and has made controversial comments about Kahn's lifestyle, and the coach plans a trip to London soon to speak to the Arsenal man.

"I felt for some time that something was wrong but I didn't expect it would come out that way," said Voeller.

"I'll do what I think is right. I will not let emotions blind me. I will talk to Jens about the situation calmly but clearly."

Lehmann brought the problem into the spotlight in an interview with German soccer magazine Kicker last week, saying he had been more consistent than Kahn this season. Since joining Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund last July, the 34-year-old Lehmann has indeed been outstanding while Bayern Munich's Kahn, also 34, has made one or two uncharacteristic blunders.

"I think the way he (Lehmann) is playing makes you think he is right," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said after the unbeaten premier league leaders took a firm grip in the title race with a 2-1 win at Chelsea on Saturday.

"Overall I think anybody who sees every game of Arsenal would say that for us he has just been outstanding.

"I respect Oliver Kahn but I also respect somebody who wants to be the best and Lehmann wants to be the best. After that it's down to Voeller to give him a chance or not."

Kahn, named FIFA's player of the tournament in the 2002 World Cup, is Germany's captain and has been first choice for nearly six years, winning 66 caps.

Lehmann has 16 caps after years as a frustrated back-up.

Lehmann, who makes no secret of his difficult relationship with Kahn, made things even worse when his criticism went beyond the players' relative goalkeeping abilities.

"I didn't know we were supposed to talk," Lehmann told Kicker when asked why the two did not speak to each other.

"I don't have a 24-year-old girlfriend. I have a different life."

Lehmann was referring to Kahn's affair with a Munich barmaid which started when his wife was pregnant and made headlines in Germany for weeks.
This story has been viewed 2159 times.