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Sunday, December 13, 2009

Profil Edwin Van Der Sar



Full Name Edwin van der Sar
Birth Date October 29, 1970
Birth Place Voorhout, Holland
Height 1.96m
Weight 84 kg
Age 39
Position Goalkeeper
Squad No 1

Manchester United's desperate bid to find a worthy successor to Peter Schmeichel was documented and, in the summer of 2005, as they turned to giant Edwin van der Sar, finally those gloves had been filled.

Granted, Van der Sar's age - he was 34 when joining the Red Devils - means he is more of a stop-gap measure than the long-term answer. But it is a situation most United fans would settle for after the wayward years with Mark Bosnich, Fabien Barthez, Tim Howard and Roy Carroll. A goalkeeper with great agility for one so tall, he is a reliable and commanding figure between the sticks - one of Schmeichel's main attributes.

He began his career with Ajax Amsterdam. There he won the UEFA Cup in 1992, the Champions League in 1995 and the Dutch domestic treble in 1996. Van der Sar was the first foreign keeper to play for Juventus when he made the move to Serie A.

And the unfashionable Fulham pulled off a major coup when they signed Van der Sar from the Italians in a £7m deal in August 2001. The deal smashed the club's transfer record.

The player missed only one match in 2003-04, being as dependable as ever and holding the record for the most shots saved over the campaign. He passed 100 Fulham appearances that term - and was also named Fulham's Player of the Year.

He was linked with a return to PSV, but remained with Fulham and was also named in the Dutch squad for Euro 2004. With his contract due to expire in the summer of 2005, Fulham managed to tie him to a new two-year contact in January. That was despite much talk of a transfer window move to Manchester United.

But at the end of the campaign he finally agreed to move to Old Trafford after the two clubs settled on a fee. His arrival at United coincided with an improvement in the team's defensive performances. And he was rewarded with a League Cup medal in 2006 and the return of the Premiership title after four years in 2007 in which he was a virtual everpresent.

In 2008 he celebrated Champions League success with the Red Devils, as well as another title, showing great command of his area, athleticism and agility for such a giant of a player.

His crowning glory came when, in 2008-09, he went 1,311 minutes without conceding in the league - setting a new single-season world record. With a total of 21 clean sheets he won the Best European Goalkeeper award from UEFA and sealed his reputation as one of the best in the world.

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