He 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.

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 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.[3] 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[citation needed]) scored against Borussia Dortmund on December 19, 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 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. Believing he wouldn`t get another chance at Milan he left during the winter.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Arsenal

[edit] 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,[5] and made mistakes that led to both goals in Arsenal`s Champions League defeat at home to Chelsea the same season.[6] Arsenal continued unbeaten until October 24, 2004. At the end of his first season at Arsenal, he had already played 54 times for the gunners, earning himself a Premier League winners medal at the end of the season.

[edit] 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 p