Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has insisted he has no intention of leaving Arsenal after the World Cup finals.

Reports in the German media had suggested the 36-year-old would join a Bundesliga club after the tournament, but he plans to spend at least another year in London.  Not next season. I am fit, like a 26-year-old. And I am much fitter than when I was 30 years old," said the veteran. 

Lehmann, who has played over 100 Premiership games for the Gunners since leaving Borussia Dortmund in 2003, enjoyed the best form of his career last term and was a key figure in the club's surprise march to the Champions League final.

Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is hoping to follow up his excellent campaign with the Gunners by achieving glory with hosts Germany at the World Cup.

Lehmann's fine run in the Champions League came to an end last week when he was sent off in the

club's 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in the final in Paris.

He said: "We should all enjoy the World Cup and not think of the pressure. I have learned from the Champions League that it is a lot of fun to play big games.

"Quarter-final, semi-final, final, all of them have a unique atmosphere.

"I am deeply convinced that we can go the same way with the German team at the World Cup."

Germany's team manager Oliver Bierhoff has backed Jens Lehmann to bounce back following the goalkeeper's first-half dismissal in Arsenal's Champions League final defeat to Barcelona.

Lehmann, who has been riding on a wave of euphoria ever since learning he had pipped Oliver Kahn as Germany's number one goalkeeper at the World Cup, was sent off in the 18th minute in Paris when he brought down Samuel Eto'o.

The Gunners still managed to grab the lead in the 37th minute through a Sol Campbell header, but two late goals from the Spaniards turned the game around.

Yet Bierhoff has no doubts Lehmann will recover from his costly mistake.

"He will get two or three days off to breathe and relax with his family," Bierhoff said on German TV station Sat 1.

"He will meet a team and a group of coaches that are fully convinced of his ability.

"I hope he has learned from it and will not do the same during the World Cup. I was joking during the game saying at least Jens cannot get injured now."

EMMANUEL EBOUE admits there is only one player giving him nightmares before the Champions League final — and it is not Barcelona superstar Ronaldinho.

Arsenal right-back Eboue, 22, has been a revelation in a Gunners backline not breached in 10 European games but insists he is scared stiff of keeper Jens Lehmann .

He said: “Jens is someone who helps us a lot. Even when we make mistakes, he encourages us. But when I see him behind me, I’m a bit afraid to look at him to see his expression.

“I’m afraid he’s going to shout at me and have a go. On the pitch, he is a little bit evil or niggly — but really he’s cool.” The Ivory Coast star has superbly filled the void left by the injury to Lauren and must now mark World Player of the Year Ronaldinho.

Eboue, a £1million signing from Belgians Beveren in January 2005, added: “I’ve learned so many things in the Champions League.

“I’ve learned to be calmer on the pitch because I used to be more excitable. Now I’m more relaxed in my head.”

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has revealed that netminder Oliver Kahn was down in the dumps after Jens Lehmann wagering was named as Germany’s World Cup #1 by Jürgen Klinsmann.

The 2002 hero put on a brave face, pledging his support to the coach and the team.

"We were really worried about him," he told Bild. "He was just floored.

"He reacted well," praised Rummenigge. "He's going to quit the national team after the World Cup and concentrate on Bayern Munich."

Four clean sheets, a string of commanding performances and - of course - that penalty save from Juan Roman Riquelme at El Madrigal. No wonder Jens Lehmann won a landslide in our April Player of the Month poll.

The Arsenal goalkeeper kicked off April with a shutout against Aston Villa and made a couple of important stops as Arsenal advanced to the last four of the Champions League with a 0-0 draw at Juventus.

Lehmann was blameless as Manchester United, Portsmouth and Tottenham took points off Arsenal in the Premiership, and he was relatively untroubled when Villarreal visited Highbury for the first leg of their European Semi-Final.

It was a different matter in Spain. Lehmann made vital first-half stops from Guillermo Franco and Juan Pablo Sorin before outsmarting Riquelme in the dying minutes, plunging to his left to save the playmaker's penalty.

Lehmann was the hero of the hour for Arsenal and Gunners fans clearly agreed. The Germany No 1 received 60.2 percent of the votes in our April poll. Kolo Toure, magnificent at the heart of defence, got 12.7 percent of your votes. Thierry Henry finished third.  

Arsenal supporters Paul and Jackie Beirne from Feltham will present Jens with his award before the game against Wigan on Sunday.

"Jens has been fantastic," says Paul. "Last summer many people wrote him off and only looked back at the few mistakes he made the previous season.

"People have short memories though because the season before that he helped us win the league and go 49 games unbeaten. Are they the statistics of a bad goalkeeper?

"I feel that Jens' stature and leadership throughout April has helped a young defence become men in the eyes of football."

The player of the month and the prize winner will both receive a Magnum of Arsenal-Lanson Black.

JENS LEHMANN'S odds penalty heroics have won past FA Cups and UEFA Cups - now he's aiming to complete the treble in the Champions League.

The German's saves helped Arsenal win the FA Cup in a shootout with Manchester United and he did likewise in the 1997 UEFA Cup Final when he played for Schalke.

After saving Juan Riquelme's lastminute effort in Villarreal to book a showdown with Barcelona, Paddy Power offer 20-1 Lehmann to save a penalty during 90 minutes in Paris and 9-1 the Gunners to win on penalties.

Barcelona, my tips at the start of the tournament, are 4-9 to win outright with Arsenal 13-8.

Last season Liverpool trailed AC Milan 3-0 at half-time before winning on penalties and Arsenal are 11-1 to be behind at the break before going on to be crowned champions.

Hill make Arsenal 5-2 to win the Champions League without conceding a further goal (excluding penalty shoot-outs).

Thierry Henry is 4-6 with Hill to leave Arsenal at the end of the season and 11-10 to stay.

If you fancy a treble - Arsenal, Middlesbrough to win the UEFA Cup and England to lift the World Cup is 33-1 with Hill.

The Primera Liga club were awarded a last-minute penalty against Arsenal that would have allowed them level the tie at 1-1, but Jens Lehmann spreads saved Riquelme's spot kick to put the Londoners into next month's final against Barcelona.

"I always feel bad when we don't win," Riquelme told a news conference on Friday.

"I am responsible for taking penalties and sometimes you score, others you don't.

"But I am proud of my team and what we have achieved because we have had a marvellous Champions League campaign."

The modest Mediterranean club, from a town with just 48,000 inhabitants, exceeded all expectations on their debut in the competition as they edged out the likes of Inter Milan and Manchester United to make the last four.

They only won promotion to the Spanish top-flight for the first time seven years ago and had their first taste of European football in the 2002 Intertoto Cup.

Riquelme added: "Everyone has been great with me, not just now but ever since I arrived here.

"I hope I can continue to help the club grow because it is hard to believe what we have achieved over the last three years.

"We deserve credit for what we have done. Everyone in the Champions League wants to reach the final and we were so close, without having a side as strong as others."

Villarreal now have to focus their attentions on returning to Europe through the Primera Liga.

They are 10th in the league, four points short of the `places, and visit Getafe on Sunday.

Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann betting ignored Thierry Henry's advice on Villarreal's last-minute penalty in the Champions League semi-final.

Captain Henry told his goalkeeper to look out for Juan Roman Riquelme chipping his spot-kick into the centre of the goal.

He recalled Paolo di Canio taking a penalty like that against Arsenal and had a feeling it was going to happen again. 

Henry said: "I am glad Jens ignored my advice.

"I told him about a game we played away at Charlton and I knew Di Canio would chip the ball when he had a penalty. On that day I didn't speak to Jens about him.

"Afterwards I asked Di Canio if he would change his penalty if he had seen me going to speak to Jens and he said 'Yes'.

"I don't know if Riquelme knows but I've seen him take a penalty right in a middle a couple of times.

"He waited for the goalkeeper to dive and chipped it in the middle. I said the Jens that usually when he is under pressure he hits the ball in the middle.

"So maybe when he saw me going to talk to Jens he thought that was what I was saying and he changed things.

"I don't know if it was a double bluff but it can help. If I'm playing against someone I know and he goes to speak to the goalkeeper, you can't help thinking what he said."

Lehmann's save in the 90th minute secured a 0-0 draw in the second leg that was enough to put Arsenal into the final in Paris on May 17 with a 1-0 aggregate win.

Lehmann said: "When you are in football you can be very close to being in hell and rise to heaven just like that.

"A couple of days ago I said to myself Riquelme will take penalties and I will go to my left because of his body shape. Thierry gave me a tip but I ignored it."

Lehmann helped Arsenal win last season's FA Cup final on penalties against Manchester United.

He was also the hero of a penalty shoot-out to win the Uefa Cup with Schalke in 1997.

Oliver Bierhoff has reacted angrily to comments made by former German international goalkeeper Sepp Maier.

Germany head coach Jurgen Klinsmann recently gave Jens Lehmann wagerng the nod ahead of Oliver Kahn to keep goal during the World Cup and Maier, Kahn's coach at Bayern Munich, claims Klinsmann "sucked up" to Lehmann.

Maier was booted out of the national team set-up following the departure of Rudi Voller in 2004, when Klinsmann took over as coach with Joachim Low as his assistant and Bierhoff as general manager.

And speaking to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the 1974 World Cup winner insists there is a link between Klinsmann, Bierhoff and Lehmann which meant Kahn never had a chance of being number one.

"Bierhoff's wife and Klinsmann's wife are the best of friends, and Bierhoff's wife is also a close friend of Lehmann's wife," Maier claimed.

"Bierhoff and the others all have the same manager, which makes them all intertwined.

"The DFB (German Football Association) just watches it all and that really annoys me."

But Bierhoff cannot understand Maier's grief and said: "His comments are scandalous.

"Not only does his choice of words show a lack of style, which is to be expected, but he has said things that simply are not true."

The Gunners may have been hit-and-miss in the Premiership this season, but they have been hard to fault in Europe - breezing through the group stages of this tournament and knocking out Real Madrid and Juventus in the past two rounds.
Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Jose Reyes have been outstanding going forward, but it is the back four of Eboue, Senderos, Toure and Flamini who really deserve the plaudits. With a little help from Jens Lehmann odds, they have kept eight successive cleansheets in the competition - a tournament record that they will be keen to extend against a Villarreal team who are only eighth in the Spanish Primera Liga Table.

Sporting Index quote Villarreal’s first goal at between 66 and 69 minutes, but finding the back of the net may prove beyond them. They have won only two of their past ten matches and have been fortunate to reach the last four - knocking out Inter Milan via the away goals rule in the quarter-final, having previously eliminated Rangers by the same method.

The visiting team clearly represent a lesser assignment for for Arsene Wenger’s team than either Real Madrid or Juventus and, moreover, they have significant injury problems at the back, with Gonzalo Rodriguez and Juan Manuel Pena, their international central defenders, both ruled out.

Buying the time of Villarreal’s first goal is an option, but a buy of Arsenal’s performance, at 60, could be an even better bet. In this market you get 25 points for a win; ten for a draw; 15 for every goal scored and ten for a clean sheet. A 2-0 win for Arsenal would, then, yield 65 points.

You also get three points per corner won and ten points for hitting the woodwork and the ball coming back out into play. On the minus side, you are docked five points for a yellow card and 15 for a red.

    German coach Jurgen Klinsmann has decided to give the number one jersey to the 36-year-old Arsenal goalie instead of veteran Oliver Kahn.

    But Lehmann said he would go to the World Cup even if he failed to be favored by Klinsmann.

    "I would have needed time to think about it but I would have gone to the finals as the number two," Lehmann told German television channel Premiere.

    "I would then have retired after the tournament."

On Monday, the 36-year-old showed he could also be a good loser, as he accepted defeat in his personal battle with Jens Lehmann and vowed to fight on for the good of the team.

Four years on from his heroics in leading Germany to the final of the 2002 World Cup, Kahn lost his place as the country's number one to the in-form Arsenal keeper Lehmann.

It was a cruel blow for the Bayern Munich man, who was named player of the tournament in South Korea and Japan.

Juergen Klinsmann's decision had been widely expected to lead to Kahn's retirement but instead he accepted the role of second choice goalkeeper for the tournament running from June 9 to July 9.

"This can't be about personal vanity," Kahn said. "It's about something much bigger - a World Cup on home soil. It's important for the team that I should be there."

Klinsmann was quick to salute that magnanimity, which came three days after the coach announced his decision.

"A huge compliment to Oliver," Klinsmann said. "His experience and willingness to stay and help us have a successful World Cup are really important."

Kahn has won the Champions League, six league titles, four German Cups, one UEFA Cup and one World Club Cup, but he has also had his share of disappointment.

HEARTBREAKING FASHION

He made his Germany debut in 1995 but had to wait until the retirement of Andreas Koepke after the World Cup in France three years later before he could claim the number one slot.

In 1999, Kahn was in goal for Bayern Munich when they lost the Champions League final to Manchester United in such heartbreaking fashion.

His first major tournament as first choice keeper was a failure, as Germany were knocked out of the European Championship in the first round in 2000.

Two years later, Germany were not expected to go much further but a series of breathtaking saves from Kahn, notably in a 1-0 victory over the United States in the quarter-finals, helped them reach the final.

Kahn was named the player of the tournament but there was no personal satisfaction to be had: his one real mistake of the tournament gifted Ronaldo an easy chance to score the first of his two goals in a 2-0 win for Brazil.

Germany were first round losers again at Euro 2004 and when Klinsmann came in Kahn lost first the captaincy and finally his place in the team.

Kahn cuts such an aggressive figure on the pitch, bawling at referees and team mates, shoving opponents, that his tone at Monday's news conference came as something of a surprise.

"I'm not the sort of person who can't lose," Kahn said. "The whole team, including Jens Lehmann, will have my full support."

That decision will be as welcome to Klinsmann as it was unexpected. Germany need all the support they can get.