Edwin Van Der Sar
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| Edwin Van Der Sar |
Edwin Van Der Sar began his career at hometown club Foreholte and then VV Noordwijk, where he was spotted by Ajax Amsterdam. After going through the ranks of Ajax's youth system, he enjoyed a long and successful stint in the senior side, winning the 1991-92 UEFA Cup and the 1995 UEFA Champions League, as well as the 1995 Best European Goalkeeper award. He lost the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final in a penalty shootout against Juventus.
He made a total of 226 appearances for Ajax and scored a penalty for Ajax to complete an 8-1 victory over De Graafschap in the 1997-98 seasonHe went on to make 66 Serie A appearances for Juventus, eventually losing his place to Gianluigi Buffon; Van der Sar remains the first and only non-Italian to be in goal for the club from Turin.
His move to the Premiership took him first to Fulham in 2001, reportedly for around £7.7 million. Initially signing a four year contract, he notched up 126 league appearances.
Manchester UnitedHe moved to Manchester United on 1 June 2005 for a reported fee of £2 million, although the exact transfer fee was undisclosed. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson considered him the best goalkeeper to play for the club since Peter Schmeichel.On 5 May 2007, his penalty save helped assure a 1-0 triumph over Manchester City on the Manchester derby. The following day, Chelsea's failure to beat Arsenal at the Emirates ensured Manchester United's ninth Premier League trophy and van der Sar's first. He was also named to the 2006-07 PFA Team of the Year. Three months later, he was a catalyst in Manchester United's 16th FA Community Shield victory, as he saved three consecutive penalties in a shootout after Manchester United and Chelsea played to a 1-1 draw at the end of regular time.On 21 December 2007, van der Sar signed a new one-year deal, keeping him at Manchester United until the 2008-09 season.
The 2007-08 season was a mixed bag for him despite some great performances because of his niggling groin injury. However he helped United secure their second successive Premier League title on the final day and helped win the Champions League by saving the final penalty at the penalty shootout stage, the penalty from Nicolas Anelka.
International careerVan der Sar was included in Holland's 1994 World Cup squad but did not play. He had to wait until June 7, 1995 for his international debut, against Belarus. He was in goal for three successive eliminations from major competitions by penalties: Euro 96, France 98 and Euro 2000.
Edwin van der Sar in training with the Netherlands prior to Euro 2008.
Euro 2004However, during the penalty shootout at the Euro 2004 quarter-final against Sweden, Van der Sar saved a penalty from Olof Mellberg, as the Netherlands won the shootout 5-4 and advanced to the semifinals, where they lost to Portugal.
2006 World CupPrior to the 2006 World Cup group match against Ivory Coast, Van der Sar had not conceded a goal in 10 consecutive non-friendly matches and kept a clean sheet for 1,013 minutes.
Van der Sar has represented the Dutch national team 128 times, which makes him Holland's most capped player. This puts him in the top thirty most capped players of all time. As captain of the Netherlands, he broke Frank de Boer's record in the 2006 World Cup second round match against Portugal.
Euro 2008On the day of his 37th birthday, Van der Sar was interviewed by Radio 538 and said that he intends to retire from international football after Euro 2008. He was the Netherlands' captain in their decisive 3-0 defeat of Italy on June 9, 2008 and also for the match on June 13th against France which was won with 4-1. On 21 June, he played his last international match, in a 3-1 quarter-final loss against Russia in extra time.This was his 16th appearance on an European Championship finals match, with which he equalled the record set by Lilian Thuram a few days earlier.
He made a total of 226 appearances for Ajax and scored a penalty for Ajax to complete an 8-1 victory over De Graafschap in the 1997-98 seasonHe went on to make 66 Serie A appearances for Juventus, eventually losing his place to Gianluigi Buffon; Van der Sar remains the first and only non-Italian to be in goal for the club from Turin.
His move to the Premiership took him first to Fulham in 2001, reportedly for around £7.7 million. Initially signing a four year contract, he notched up 126 league appearances.
Manchester UnitedHe moved to Manchester United on 1 June 2005 for a reported fee of £2 million, although the exact transfer fee was undisclosed. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson considered him the best goalkeeper to play for the club since Peter Schmeichel.On 5 May 2007, his penalty save helped assure a 1-0 triumph over Manchester City on the Manchester derby. The following day, Chelsea's failure to beat Arsenal at the Emirates ensured Manchester United's ninth Premier League trophy and van der Sar's first. He was also named to the 2006-07 PFA Team of the Year. Three months later, he was a catalyst in Manchester United's 16th FA Community Shield victory, as he saved three consecutive penalties in a shootout after Manchester United and Chelsea played to a 1-1 draw at the end of regular time.On 21 December 2007, van der Sar signed a new one-year deal, keeping him at Manchester United until the 2008-09 season.
The 2007-08 season was a mixed bag for him despite some great performances because of his niggling groin injury. However he helped United secure their second successive Premier League title on the final day and helped win the Champions League by saving the final penalty at the penalty shootout stage, the penalty from Nicolas Anelka.
International careerVan der Sar was included in Holland's 1994 World Cup squad but did not play. He had to wait until June 7, 1995 for his international debut, against Belarus. He was in goal for three successive eliminations from major competitions by penalties: Euro 96, France 98 and Euro 2000.
Edwin van der Sar in training with the Netherlands prior to Euro 2008.
Euro 2004However, during the penalty shootout at the Euro 2004 quarter-final against Sweden, Van der Sar saved a penalty from Olof Mellberg, as the Netherlands won the shootout 5-4 and advanced to the semifinals, where they lost to Portugal.
2006 World CupPrior to the 2006 World Cup group match against Ivory Coast, Van der Sar had not conceded a goal in 10 consecutive non-friendly matches and kept a clean sheet for 1,013 minutes.
Van der Sar has represented the Dutch national team 128 times, which makes him Holland's most capped player. This puts him in the top thirty most capped players of all time. As captain of the Netherlands, he broke Frank de Boer's record in the 2006 World Cup second round match against Portugal.
Euro 2008On the day of his 37th birthday, Van der Sar was interviewed by Radio 538 and said that he intends to retire from international football after Euro 2008. He was the Netherlands' captain in their decisive 3-0 defeat of Italy on June 9, 2008 and also for the match on June 13th against France which was won with 4-1. On 21 June, he played his last international match, in a 3-1 quarter-final loss against Russia in extra time.This was his 16th appearance on an European Championship finals match, with which he equalled the record set by Lilian Thuram a few days earlier.
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