Edwin van der Sar

Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar side.jpg
Personal information
Full name Edwin van der Sar
Date of birth 29 October 1970 (1970-10-29) (age 38)
Place of birth    Voorhout, Netherlands
Height 6 ft 5.5 in (1.97 m)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club Manchester United
Number 1
Youth clubs
1980–1985
1985–1990		 Foreholte
vv Noordwijk
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1990–1999
1999–2001
2001–2005
2005–		 Ajax
Juventus
Fulham
Manchester United		 226 (1)
066 (0)
127 (0)
113 (0)   
National team2
1995–2008 Netherlands 130 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 6 December 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 09:28, 4 November 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Edwin van der Sar (born 29 October 1970 in Voorhout) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for English Premier League club Manchester United F.C. He is the Netherlands national team's most capped player of all-time. On 24 June 2008, he announced that he was retiring after the 2008–09 season.[1] He is one of the few footballers to have won the Champions League with two different teams, having won it with Ajax Amsterdam of Holland in 1995 and Manchester United of England in 2008.

Contents

Club career

AFC Ajax

Edwin van der Sar began his career at hometown club Foreholte and then VV Noordwijk, where he was spotted by AFC Ajax. 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 1994–95 UEFA Champions League, as well as the 1995 Best European Goalkeeper award. He kept goal for Ajax in the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final, but they lost a penalty shootout against Juventus and this time Van Der Sar had to make do with a runners-up medal. 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 season.

Juventus

Van der Sar moved to Italian giants Juventus making 66 Serie A appearances before eventually losing his place to Gianluigi Buffon. He became the first non-Italian to keep goal for the Turin club.[2]

Fulham

Van der Sar at Fulham

After losing his spot to Buffon at Juve, Van der Sar moved to English Premier League club Fulham in 2001, reportedly for around £7.1 million.[3] Initially signing a four year contract, he notched up 127 league appearances.

Manchester United

Van der Sar playing for Manchester United

Van der Sar moved to Manchester United on 1 June 2005[4] for a reported fee of £2 million, although the exact transfer fee was undisclosed.[5] Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson considered him the best goalkeeper to play for the club since Peter Schmeichel.[6]

On 5 May 2007, his penalty save helped assure a 1–0 triumph over Manchester City in 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.[7] 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.[8]

On 21 December 2007, Van der Sar signed a new one-year deal, keeping him at Manchester United until the 2008–09 season.[9]

The 2007–08 season was Van der Sar's best season since his arrival; he had several great performances despite his niggling groin injury. He would help United secure their second successive Premier League title on the final day and win the Champions League by saving the final penalty of the shoot-out from Nicolas Anelka.[10]

So far at Old Trafford, he has won two Premier League titles, a Football League Cup and the European Cup. He also has an FA Cup runners-up medal.

International career

Van 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. Following the Dutch team's failure to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Van der Sar would have to wait four years for his next international tournament.

Euro 2004

However, 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,[11] where they lost to Portugal.[12]

2006 World Cup

Van der Sar at the 2006 World Cup.

Prior to the 2006 World Cup group match against Ivory Coast, Van der Sar had not conceded a goal in nine consecutive competitive matches.[13]

Van der Sar has represented the Dutch national team 130 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. [14]

Euro 2008

Edwin van der Sar in training with the Netherlands prior to Euro 2008.

On his 37th birthday, Van der Sar was interviewed by Radio 538 and stated that he intended to retire from international football after Euro 2008.[15] He was the Netherlands' captain in their decisive 3–0 defeat of Italy on June 9, 2008 and also for the match on 13 June 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.[16] This was his 16th appearance on a European Championship finals match, with which he equaled the record set by Lilian Thuram a few days earlier. Following Euro 2008, Van der Sar has the distinction of playing more minutes at the European Football Championship than any other player.[17]

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

On 3 October 2008, at the urging of new coach Bert van Marwijk, Van der Sar agreed to come out of international retirement for the Netherlands' 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Iceland and Norway after injuries to both Maarten Stekelenburg and Henk Timmer.[18] Van der Sar kept a clean sheet in both matches, which were won by the Dutch 2–0 and 1–0 respectively. In Oslo, the Dutch defeated Norway 1–0 courtesy of a Mark van Bommel goal, thus ensuring a fitting send-off for Van der Sar who earned his record 130th cap during that match.[19]

Personal life

Van der Sar is married to Annemarie van Kesteren. The wedding ceremony took place at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, on 20 May 2006.[20]

The couple have two children: a son, Joe, and a daughter, Lynn. Joe was on the pitch celebrating with his father after the latter saved a decisive penalty in the Netherlands' 5–4 shoot-out victory over Sweden in the Euro 2004 quarterfinals.

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other[21] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ajax 1990–91 9 0 0 0
1991–92 0 0 0 0
1992–93 19 0 3 0
1993–94 32 0 6 0
1994–95 33 0 11 0
1995–96 33 0 11 0
1996–97 33 0 10 0
1997–98 33 1 8 0
1998–99 34 0 6 0
Total 226 1 55 0
Juventus 1999–2000 32 0 4 0
2000–01 34 0 6 0
Total 66 0 10 0
Fulham 2001–02 37 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 41 0
2002–03 19 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 30 0
2003–04 37 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 43 0
2004–05 34 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 40 0
Total 127 0 15 0 1 0 11 0 0 0 154 0
Manchester United 2005–06 38 0 2 0 3 0 8 0 0 0 51 0
2006–07 32 0 3 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 47 0
2007–08 29 0 4 0 0 0 10 0 1 0 44 0
2008–09 13 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 18 0
Total 112 0 9 0 3 0 33 0 3 0 160 0
Total 529 1 4 0 109 0

Statistics accurate as of match played 3 December 2008

Honours

Ajax

Juventus

Fulham

Manchester United

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Van der Sar on final season". Setanta Sports (2008-06-24). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  2. ↑ "Player profiles: Edwin van der Sar". UEFA Official Website. Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
  3. ↑ "Fulham lands Dutch ace Van der Sar". BBC Sport (2001-08-01). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  4. ↑ "Man Utd seal Van der Sar switch". BBC Sport (2005-06-10). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  5. ↑ "Edwin Van der Sar Bio". ESPN. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  6. ↑ "Van der Sar pen new one-year deal at United". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  7. ↑ "Ronaldo secures PFA award double". BBC Sport (2007-04-22). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  8. ↑ "Reds Lift Community Shield". ManUtd.com (2007-09-05). Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
  9. ↑ "Van der Sar signs new United deal". Yahoo! Sport UK (2007-12-21). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  10. ↑ "Hero Van der Sar tastes Champions glory again 13 years on". Reuters UK (2008-05-21). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  11. ↑ "Holland end Swede dream". BBC Sport (2004-06-26). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  12. ↑ "Portugal 2-1 Holland". BBC Sport (2004-06-20). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  13. ↑ "Van Der Sar Tight-Lipped On Future". Yahoo! Sport UK (2007-10-20). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  14. ↑ "RSSSF International Career for Edwin Van der Sar".
  15. ↑ "Van der Sar to quit Holland". skysports.com (2007-10-29). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  16. ↑ "Van der Sar ends Dutch career with painful defeat". UK Reuters (2008-06-22). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  17. ↑ "Edwin van der Sar most minutes played at European Championship", TopFootball.net (2008-10-28). Retrieved on 2008-06-21. 
  18. ↑ "Van der Sar makes Dutch comeback for World Cup qualifiers", Reuters (2008-10-03). Retrieved on 2008-10-28. 
  19. ↑ "Strikers put in the shade", FIFA (2008-10-15). Retrieved on 2008-10-28. 
  20. ↑ "Van der Sar: A quiet hero". Manchester Evening News (2008-05-24). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
  21. ↑ Includes other competitive competitions, including the FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, FIFA Club World Cup

External links

Manchester United F.C. – current squad

1 Van der Sar • 2 Neville (c) • 3 Evra • 4 Hargreaves • 5 Ferdinand • 6 Brown • 7 Ronaldo • 8 Anderson • 9 Berbatov • 10 Rooney • 11 Giggs • 12 Foster • 13 Park • 15 Vidić • 16 Carrick • 17 Nani • 18 Scholes • 19 Welbeck • 20 Fábio • 21 Rafael • 22 O'Shea • 23 Evans • 24 Fletcher • 26 Manucho • 28 Gibson • 29 Kuszczak • 32 Tévez • 33 Hewson • 34 Possebon • 35 Cleverley • 36 Gray • 39 Chester • 40 Amos • 41 Macheda • 42 Eckersley • Manager: Ferguson
Persondata
NAME Sar, Edwin van der
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sar, Edwin van der
SHORT DESCRIPTION footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 1970-10-29
PLACE OF BIRTH Voorhout, Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH