By Myles Palmer
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OLIVER KAHN was Rudi Voller’s goalkeeper.
Jens Lehmann might be Klinsmann’s keeper.
I like to watch Jurgen Klinsmann, since he is one of four people I respect in football.
He lives in California and coaches Germany.
Who else could do that ?
In his first season at Spurs he was bionic, the best striker I’ve seen in Britain since Denis Law.
Jurgen got 47 goals in 108 appearances for Germany.
A formidable competitor, a fine ambassador, a near-perfect sporting icon with world class PR skills.
A guy who is too smart to volunteer for the grief of managing a club.
THE CONFEDERATIONS CUP is eight teams in a rehearsal for 2006.
A tournament where the Germans can look at ticketing, security, training facilities, hotels, transport.
All the things that will have to be well-organised next summer when a World Cup of 32 nations kicks off.
It’s just a shame so many players look tired.
KAHN played against Australia in the first match on 15 June.
It was his 36th birthday,
On the Aussie goal for 2-1, by John Aloisi, Kahn was too tight on his near post and beaten by a low shot.
At 2-2 a shocking foul by Schweinsteiger put Popovic out of the game, Ballack got a penalty for 3-2, then clipped a beautiful ball back for Podolski to make it 4-2, a sharpish chance which he buried expertly.
Aloisi got another goal back in injury time.
Kahn dived at his feet to block the first shot but the ball squirted out and Aloisi stabbed it in.
The final score was 4-3.
PODOLSKI has not played in the Bundesliga because he has been busy scoring 24 goals in 29 games to get Cologne promoted from Bundesliga 2.
Podolski is young, compact, quickish, gets on the end of moves.
A likely lad who might have a big international career like Littbarski, who came in from wide to score vital goals.
Littbarski scored 18 in 73 in the Eighties. Few floating wide attackers are as nimble and durable as he was.
LEHMANN played in Germany’s second game against Tunisia in Cologne.
He was lucky to repel an inswinging corner early on. Hitzlsperger was on the near post, didn’t jump, and a nasty inswinger hit Lehmann on the upper chest before bouncing out as he fell back into the goal.
A hairy moment, but he got away with it.
Then a big fan, well over six feet, appeared on the pitch and got hold of Lehmann.
The fan was amiably drunk. He gave Lehmann a hug before being hauled away by police.
Klinsmann and others will ask : How did he get on the pitch? Where was security?
Then Lehmann made a very good save, low to his left, to keep the score at 0-0.
It was a close battle up till 72, when Ballack was fouled in the box and he scored the penalty himself.
We saw at Highbury how special Ballack is.
He is very fast, very two-footed, very aggressive and very, very ambitious.
Then Podolski gave Schweinsteiger a really tasty pass and the big winger nicked the ball neatly round the keeper and slotted from a narrow angle.
Sub Mike Hawke made it 3-0, following up after his header was parried.
WENGER had admitted that it may have been wrong to drop Lehmann, a decision which baffled me.
I still don’t believe that Lehmann was dropped for footballing reasons.
Sure, he is temperamental and he drops some clangers, but overall he is a better keeper than Seaman was in his last four seasons.
I’ve had some stick for defending Jens Lehmann on ANR, but I can live with that.
LAST MONTH I watched the FA Cup Final on TV with Caroline, who went to three Cardiff finals with our friend Stewart Joseph.
After Arsenal beat Man United in the penalty shoot-out Caroline got a text from Stewart : “Please tell your Dad I take back everything I ever said about Lehmann !”
ON TUESDAY, Germany play Argentina, who beat Australia 4-2.
Argentina are much more dynamic than Brazil right now.
Kahn may be back in goal, although he has been complaining of back pain.
First capped in 1995, Kahn was past his best in the 2002 World Cup.
Lehmann thinks : It should be my turn now.
Jurgen may agree with Jens.
We shall see.
June 20th 2005.
UPDATE : the pitch-invading fan did it for a bet.
He won 500 euros.