By DPA
Vienna : If Germany didn’t have a goalkeeper problem, they’ve got one now.
At least that’s how German commentators see it Thursday, a day after Germany defeated Austria 3-0 in Vienna and four months before the start of the European Championships.
Jens Lehmann of Arsenal is rusty, his timing is out, he’s fumbling balls he’d normally catch easily, say the experts.
“I haven’t seen Lehmann so bad for a long time,” former international and TV pundit Guenter Netzer said at half time.
“The discussion begins in goal, I have rarely seen Jens Lehmann look so uncertain in goal,” wrote playing great and former national team coach Franz Beckenbauer in the daily Bild.
“Three big wobbles in a minute – he was lucky in the end not to concede a goal.”
Coach Joachim Loew had kept faith in 38-year-old Lehmann although his first-choice keeper has hardly played for Arsenal this season. Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has preferred the Spaniard Manuel Almunia.
Loew, though, has not made number two Timo Hildebrand of Valencia a serious challenger, other experienced keepers have been overlooked and several newcomers are untested at international level.
But there was nothing to worry about, it seemed.
Lehmann himself had dismissed concerns over match practice. And he had looked as solid as ever for Germany last year despite his substitute role in London.
But in Vienna, he was unsettled. He rushed out of goal to find himself completely stranded and then failed to claim the ball from successive corners, with Austria hitting the bar from the second. All within the space of about 90 seconds.
There were a couple of good saves, and one or two less assured moments as the game continued.
“We, the nation of world-class goalkeepers, now have a goalkeeping problem. There’s now bound to be a growing discussion on whether a reserve goalkeeper should be protecting our goal in the games of nerves at the European Championships,” proclaimed Bild.
The Cologne-based Express wrote: “Now the debate on the number one in goal will really start because what Jens Lehmann produced in the first half was worrying.”
Spiegel online described Lehmann’s performance as “disastrous” while Welt online said there was no question the goalkeeping position would now be a big issue.
Several former Germany keepers, including Bayern Munich’s Oliver Kahn who lost his place as a Germany starter in 2006 to Lehmann, have questioned whether a goalkeeper who can’t command a place for his club team should be in goal at a major tournament.
But Loew said lack of match practice was not necessarily the problem.
“Jens Lehmann had already shown that even when he hadn’t played for a few weeks he was concentrated and radiates calm,” he said.
“Today one has to say that in one or two situations the security wasn’t there. In the end we know that when he makes a mistake there will be a discussion, that’s for sure. But we have a lot of confidence in him.”
Lehmann did, after all, keep a clean sheet once again.
He has now gone a record 531 minutes without conceding a goal for Germany. That’s two minutes better than his previous record of 529 minutes set between August 2002 and February 2005
Loew, meanwhile, does not only have the goalkeeping question to ponder. After almost 11 months out of the side through injury, captain Michael Ballack was back, but failed to fulfil expectations.
Several other players are either injured, just returning from injury or simply off form.
“We shouldn’t be fooled by the 3-0. There is a lot of work to do for Joachim Loew before the European Championships,” wrote Beckenbauer.
Loew admitted the first 45 minutes were poor and said he was also annoyed by poor passing after his side had gone 2-0 up.
It’s a young side that gets nervous sometimes, he said.
But the coach remains confident the team will be ready for Euro 2008, especially once it has spent some time training together before the tournament in Austria and Switzerland in June.
“I am relatively relaxed as far as the European Championships is concerned,” he said.