Lehmann picked over Kahn as starting German World Cup goalie

Jens Lehmann has been selected over Oliver Kahn as the starting German national football team goalie for the 2006 World Cup, ending a two-year attritious war of nerves between the two rivals from Arsenal London and Bayern Munich, news reports said Friday.

According to an advance report by Germany's top-selling Bild newspaper, German head coach Juergen Klinsmann informed both goalies of his decision on Friday.

Meanwhile DPA confirmed that a such meeting between Klinsmann and his goalies took place Friday morning.

There has been no official confirmation yet of the Bild report.

Klinsmann had initially planned to continue his policy of rotating national goalkeepers until May before selecting either Kahn or Lehmann for Germany's World Cup games.

The German sports media has speculated for days that Lehmann would become the number one national team goalie during the 2006 World Cup.