Time Runs Out For Kahn As Jens Gets The Nod
Posted by Pete in Bundesliga, Germany | 7 April 2006
So Oli Kahn won't be pulling on the number one shirt for Germany come this June. With Lehmann through to the Big Cup semi-finals with 8 clean sheets under his belt (a new competition record) and Arsenal climbing back up the Premiership table, Klinsmann was under pressure from pretty much everyone to announce his first choice keeper. Jürgen knew that a decision was due and that which ever way his favour went, someone would be left unhappy.
With everyone in the Bayern camp rooting for Oli, the Bundestrainer was being constantly bombarded by the "opinions" of Beckenbauer, Hoeness, Magath and the rest of the jolly Munich crew. Only a few days ago, Magath resorted to saying that Kahn's media presence and his previous tenure as German's number one meant that he has more to lose. This apparently made the long-running competition between the two keepers unfair and made him error-prone (in the league). Which did beg questions along the line of "if you can't stand the heat, should you be in the kitchen?"
Nevertheless, in what proved to be an uncomfortable post-match interview on Wednesday night, Jens had the final word. While quizzed by Sat. 1's Oliver Welke and Oliver Bierhoff (who doubles as the German Team Manager), it was clear that Lehmann was frustrated that he couldn't express what he really wanted to say with Bierhoff present. He wisely finished off by saying, "I'm happy at the moment, because your performance on the pitch is what counts. And that is the only reason why one should be picked. Otherwise people will just regard you as unreliable."
