Jens Lehmann is fresh from a morning of cold water swimming down the River Isar in Munich when he meets Mail Sport for breakfast at a nearby cafe.
It is 18 years since Germany last hosted a major tournament and back then, Lehmann was the goalkeeper for Jurgen Klinsmann’s side who reached the World Cup semi-final.
Germany would go on to reach at least the semi-finals in the next five major tournaments, including winning the 2014 World Cup but Lehmann is frank about the host nation’s chances this time around.
‘We had that era where we were always expected to reach at least the semi-final or the final but we’ve never been there since. That says a lot and that’s why I don’t expect a lot to be honest,’ he says. Not even in front of their own fans, Jens?
‘It will help but you still have to be a good football team and the fact is that teams like France and England are a lot better.
‘Though with tournaments, it’s never about the team who is better than the rest. You just have to better than the opponent on the day,’ Lehmann adds.
For the former Arsenal goalkeeper who was part of The Invincibles, England are genuine contenders but he insists they have one key weakness.
‘Gareth (Southgate) is a good coach and England have some incredibly talented players but the keeping position concerns me. When your goalkeeper is not playing in the Champions League, it is a weakness when it comes to these tournaments. You need that big game experience. I predict a France v England final and I hope for England to win because of my Premier League connections,’ he says. ‘But I can’t see it because England have mentality problems when it comes to those big games in tournaments, like against Italy. They should have won the last Euros.’
That said, Lehmann admits that he has been impressed by Jordan Pickford in penalty shootouts. Lehmann famously saved two penalties and used an infamous cheat sheet when Germany beat Argentina in a World Cup quarter-final shootout back in 2006.
‘It’s a different art to the game, knowing how to win a penalty shootout and Pickford made some great saves in the 2018 World Cup and in the Euros final,’ Lehmann says.
‘You can prepare however you want but it’s all about the split second when you move as a keeper, which must be the exact moment the penalty taker is about to strike and can’t change his mind. That’s a small corridor of a tenth of a second and if you hit that window, you will be successful.’
