Edwin van der Sar

Edwin van der Sar (born October 29, 1970) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for English club Manchester United. He is the most capped player in the Netherlands national football team's history.

Van der Sar started his senior career at Ajax and remained there for nine years before moving to Italian club Juventus and then to England, first to Fulham and then to Manchester United. He is one of the few footballers to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different teams, having won it with Ajax in 1995 and Manchester United in 2008, the latter where he was named UEFA Man of the match; he also won the UEFA Cup with Ajax in 1992. Van der Sar was named Best European Goalkeeper in 1995 and 2009, spanning the 14-year period between his first and second Champions league victories.

 

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. Ahead of the 2009-10 season many touted Ben Foster as a permanent replacement for Van der Sar but both he and Thomas Kuszczak failed to depose the Dutchman, who remains Ferguson's No.1.

Van der Sar was included in the Netherlands's 1994 World Cup squad but did not play. He had to wait until 7 June 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. The Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup after failing to compete with Portugal and the Republic of Ireland and so during all of his career with the Netherlands, he had missed one tournament. Van der Sar has represented the Dutch national team 130 times, which makes him the country's most capped player. This puts him in the top thirty most capped players of all time. [source : Edwin van der Sar]

Van der Sar Pictures and Wallpapers