Rest no cure for Lehmann

Germany keeper feels break made side sluggish

Last updated: 26th June 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Rest no cure for Lehmann

Lehmann: Rhythm interrupted

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Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has blamed Germany's sluggish performance against Turkey on too much rest before the semi-final.

Joachim Low's side needed a last-minute goal from full-back Philipp Lahm to see off the challenge of the determined Turks, who dominated possession and were unlucky not to progress.

Lehmann and his team-mates had almost a week to prepare for the match after their quarter-final victory over Portugal, and the former Arsenal No.1 felt that the lack of action contributed to their often disjointed display.

Rhythm

The veteran shot-stopper said: "Somehow having six days off kills the team a little - every team that had five or six days off got knocked out of the tournament.

"We felt this little break really interrupted our rhythm."

Lehmann's comments go against captain Michael Ballack's assessment that the squad are in need of a break before the final, but Portugal and Holland were both knocked out in the quarter-finals after resting star names for their final group fixtures.

Germany fell behind when Turkey's Ugur Boral put Fatih Terim's side ahead on 22 minutes, but Bastian Schweinsteiger equalised four minutes later to make it 1-1 at the break.

Warning

Lehmann said: "The goal woke us up, we were quite fortunate to get the equaliser so soon because you felt right from the beginning that it was going to be a tough game.

"The first goal was a warning for us because then we came back into the game."

Lehmann now wants Thursday night's second semi-final between Russia and Spain in Vienna to go into extra-time to wear down their final opponents.

"It's good we only have a few days before the final," he said.

"We're looking forward to seeing hopefully a 120-minute match between Spain and Russia!"