When former Germany keeper Jens Lehmann said earlier this month he wants to play at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, many said it was just another provocative statement by the 39-year-old at the twilight of his career.

Even Germany coach Joachim Loew and national goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke ruled out a return, saying there were four talented keepers in the squad already, with Bayer Leverkusen’s Rene Adler, Hanover 96 keeper Robert Enke, Manuel Neuer who plays for Schalke and Werder Bremen’s Tim Wiese.

Lehmann, who retired from the team after their Euro 2008 final loss to Spain, kept at it, saying he wanted to come back. “If the national team has the need for a keeper like me then they will approach me,” the former Arsenal and now VfB Stuttgart keeper said this week.

After Werder Bremen and Leverkusen qualified for the German Cup final, Lehmann could actually be right.

Germany are on an Asian tour from May 29 to June 3, but it now looks like they are fresh out of keepers. Wiese and Adler will play in the May 30 Cup final, Neuer will be at the U21 European championships and Enke could be locked in a relegation play-off with his club.

That leaves a few other options but none as attractive as Lehmann.

Arminia Bielefeld’s Dennis Eilhoff has had a very good season but just like Dortmund’s Roman Weidenfeller, is not as big a name and crowd puller as Lehmann for such a tour. Former Germany keeper Timo Hildebrand has had an injury-plagued return to the Bundesliga after signing for newcomers Hoffenheim late last year after a fruitless spell in Spain.

With several other big names missing from the squad — captain Michael Ballack will be with Chelsea at the FA Cup final, Real Madrid’s Christoph Metzelder still has league action, Bremen’s Torsten Frings plays in the German Cup final — Lehmann could possibly just sneak in.

PHOTO: Stuttgart’s goalkeeper Jens Lehmann gestures during their German Bundesliga first division soccer match against Herta Berlin in Stuttgart March 21, 2009. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

Former Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is no stranger to controversy. But in recent weeks he has stirred up a debate despite being in the twilight of his playing days.

First he delayed the publication of his memoirs for next year and then signed another one-year contract extension with Stuttgart after saying last year this was his final season.

Everyone asked why. Then came the reason.

The former Arsenal keeper, 39, stunned the nation with his admission that he wants to compete in another World Cup, in South Africa next year, overriding his international retirement following Germany’s 1-0 loss to Spain in the Euro 2008 final.

Germany boss Joachim Loew and national goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke quickly ruled out calling up Lehmann again, saying it would be a bad signal for the younger keepers.

But Lehmann said at the weekend that the chances of Germany needing a quality keeper of his calibre next year “are going to be very high.”.

While Loew has yet to decide on a first choice keeper since Lehmann’s departure, there are at least four vying for the top spot.

There’s Hanover’s Robert Enke, who played in the last two World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Wales, Bayer Leverkusen’s Rene Adler, Werder Bremen keeper Tim Wiese as well as young Manuel Neuer, who plays for Schalke.

“It is a shame. He used to be a nice guy before he went to Stuttgart. But now all he does is provoke,” Wiese said this week.

Lehmann has indeed been involved in several controversial incidents recently, including angrily ripping the headband off Stuttgart defender Khalid Boulahrouz during a UEFA Cup tie.

He also threw a Hoffenheim player’s boot into the stands and haggled with a referee about where Bremen midfielder Diego should position the ball for a free kick. Diego then scored from the spot chosen by Lehmann.

Whether his desire to return to the national team is just another of his antics remains to be seen.

PHOTO: VfB Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann during their UEFA Cup match against Zenit St.Peterburg, Feb. 26, 2009. REUTERS/Thomas Bohlen

Almost 350 players will leave Euro 2008 disappointed but only 11 will carry the ultimate shame of making it into the Reuters Flops of the Tournament XI.

Starting at the back there is nothing like a commanding goalkeeper and we have three contenders who have been nothing like a commanding goalkeeper.

Petr Cech made a bid by dropping a straightforward catch that enabled Turkey to come from the dead and knock the Czech Republic out while Rustu Recber’s 100 percent ratio of blunders to games in his two appearances also earned notice.

However, the number one shirt goes to 38-year-old Jens Lehmann for his creaky, leaky display in Germany’s semi-final win over Turkey.

There was stiff competition at centre back too, though Marco Materazzi was an almost unanimous choice after finally rediscovering his long-lost Everton form — disappointing, shall we say — in Italy’s 3-0 defeat by the Netherlands.

Lilian Thuram, who was involved in all four goals conceded by France against the Dutch, was in there fighting but Russia’s Roman Shirokov, never to be seen again after Spain thumped four goals through, round and over him, gets the shirt.

France are well represented though as Willy Sagnol and Eric Abidal slot in at fullback.

There were a wide range of contenders for the four midfield slots but another Frenchman, Florent Malouda, was a clear favourite as he reproduced the form he has been showing all season for Chelsea — none.

Daniele De Rossi was supposed to be the purring engine at the heart of the Italian midfield but instead operated like a Vespa on the wrong fuel and walks in.

Four years ago Angelos Basinas helped Greece to their unlikely title but this time he was anonymous. There might have been other Greeks who were as bad or even worse but, as captain, he gets in with something of a representative role.

Freddie Ljungberg, Gennaro Gattuso and Tranquillo Barnetta all attracted votes but the final midfield spot goes to a man who was personally and publicly blamed by his coach for his team’s failure, Poland’s toothless Ebi Smolarek.

Up front there were any number of candidates. Nicolas Anelka had more scowls than shots, Henrik Larsson should have called it a day after two retirements while Martin Harnik was handed the chance to become an Austrian hero but flopped.

However, Mario Gomez has to play given that he arrived with such a fanfare but was then so ineffective that Germany redesigned their formation rather than keep him in.

Alongside him is the player who attracted more votes than anyone, someone for whom the term “lump” could have been invented.

Slow, immobile, clumsy and, when finally presented with some chances to show his ability in the air — poor in the air. Step forward, slowly, Luca Toni.

Such are the motivational qualities of Guus Hiddink that he would probably mould this bunch of misfits into title contenders.

But our disparate group will instead take to the hypothetical field under the guidance of Roberto Donadoni, who since he has already been sacked as Italy coach, is at least available.

PHOTO: Italy striker Luca Toni after being fouled by Eric Abidal in the area during the 2-0 win over France. June 17. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

When I was a keen but accident-prone goalkeeper growing up, the one piece of advice all my teachers and coaches used to give was: “Stand up when a player’s coming through on goal, and make yourself as big a target as possible.”

Jens Lehmann took that literally when he came into Germany’s news conference on Wednesday. The 38-year-old keeper, who has taken some stick from the media lately, said: “I’m going to stay standing up and give you all more surface area to aim at.”

Lehmann did look a little jittery when Germany played against Belarus in a recent friendly but he now says he’ll be fully concentrated, after finally sorting out his future with a move to VfB Stuttgart.

The big problem for Lehmann and the rest of the keepers at Euro 2008 could be the ball, which most people expect to move around quite a bit in the flight and hang in the air too much for comfort on crosses. (See here for a field test at Soccerlens).

There are some good goalies at the tournament, Lehmann among them (although I actually wouldn’t mind seeing young Rene Adler get a chance at some stage). Petr Cech and Gianluigi Buffon are obviously outstanding but if I had to single out one I’d choose Iker Casillas. If Spain are finally going to do something at a big tournament like this they’ll need him at his best, which is very good indeed.

Who’s your pick for the best keeper of Euro 2008?

Kevin Fylan, with the German squad in Ascona, Switzerland