Lehmann just wants to keep his posh hotel room

BERLIN, June 29 (Reuters) Germany want to beat Argentina and stay in the World Cup because the players have become attached to their five-star hotel and do not want to leave it, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann joked today.

Lehmann said the pampering they are getting at the exclusive hotel built in an luxurious 95-year-old villa in Berlin's poshest quarter was a small but important motivating factor.

''It's just a great hotel,'' Lehmann told a news conference before Friday's quarter-final match less than five km (three miles) from Olypiastadion, a smile flashing across his face.

''Even if we have a free day to go whereever we want, a majority of us, or many of us anyhow, feel so comfortable at the hotel that we decide to stay there. It's just fantastic.

''It's another reason we have to make it to the final so we can stay in there,'' said Lehmann, 36.

The Schlosshotel in Grunewald, used by Hollywood stars during the Berlin Film Festival, is one of the most expensive in Germany with suites costing up to 3,000 euros per night.

Germany play Argentina in the quarter-final in Berlin tomorrow.

REUTERS DH ND1930