PLAYER PROFILE

Jens Lehmann

Position: Goal

Height: 6'3

Weight: 13st 10lbs

Date of Birth: 1969-11-10 Essen, Germany

Jens Lehmann

The Gunners sealed the £1.5million signing of German international goalkeeper Jens Lehmann from Borussia Dortmund in July 2003, as Arsene Wenger finally found his replacement for David Seaman.

Lehmann brought a wealth of experience to the Arsenal goal - he has made a combined total of nearly 400 appearances for FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund, he won the German league title with Dortmund in 2002 and was also a member of the Germany World Cup squads in 1998 and 2002, in addition to their Euro 2000 squad.

His vast UEFA Cup and Champions League experience was also a bonus for the Gunners. During his time in Germany, he made over 50 appearances in European competitions, winning the UEFA Cup with Schalke in 1997 and finishing a runner-up in the same competition with Dortmund in 2002.

Lehmann knew all about playing at Highbury too. He played against Arsenal in the 2002/03 Champions League, appearing in both matches in the first group stage of the competition.

In his first season at Highbury, the German keeper picked up a championship medal, though doubts remained about his temperament following a number of 'incidents' during games. He was also blamed for giving away goals in some crucial Champions League matches.

This continued into the 2004/05 campaign as he battled with Mnauel Almunia for the Arsenal Number 1 jersey.

Lehmann played only once between the end of November and the end of January as manager Arsene Wenger favoured Almunia between the Arsenal sticks.

However, Lehmann soon reclaimed his place for the latter half of the season, keeping eleven clean-sheets and inspiring Arsenal to the runners-up place in the Barclays Premiership and their tenth FA Cup trophy.

The 2005/06 season proved to be a season of disappointments for Lehmann. Although he remained first-choice for the Gunners, the team underwhelmed in the league as the European Cup became their top priority.

It was here Lehmann enjoyed his defining moment as, with the semi-final second leg in Villarreal poised delicatley at 0-0 (with Arsenal a goal up on aggregate), the keeper saved a last-minute penalty from Juan Roman Riquelme which, had it gone in, would have pushed the game into extra-time.

The victory meant Arsenal football club became the second successive English team to qualify for the final of Europe's top competition, but disaster was just around the corner when, early in the game, Lehmann tripped Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o, getting sent-off for the trouble.

Despite a fine performance, the Gunners went on to lose the game 2-1, but Lehmann's attentions turned to the World Cup where he was handed the number 1 jersey by Jurgen Klinsmann ahead of Oliver Khan.

The choice proved to be inspired as the hosts progressed to the semi-finals, helped in no small part by Lehmann's penalty saves in a quarter-final shoot-out against Argentina.

However, just as with Arsenal, Germany fell at the final few hurdles as extra-time defeat to eventual winners Italy in the semis meant there was to be no fairy tale finish to a thrilling tournament for both Lehmann and Germany.

It was a double disappointment that was repeated in the 2006/07 season for Arsenal. Lehmann played most games for the Gunners, but they were frustrated by a lack of experience and depth in their young squad.