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    2005 1995 and with Manchester United 2008 year. V 1995 and 2009

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    V 1999

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    2005

    5 May 2007 2006/07

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    Edwin van der Sar is a Dutch footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Finished career in 2011 year. For more than thirteen years, Van der Sar was the main goalkeeper and captain of the Netherlands national team, for which he played 130 matches, which is a national team record.

    Van der Sar began his career at Ajax, where he spent nine years. Then he played for Juventus and Fulham, and in 2005 moved to Manchester United. Van der Sar is one of the few players to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different clubs: with Ajax in 1995 and with Manchester United 2008 year. V 1995 and 2009 years van der Sar was recognized as the best European goalkeeper.

    Edwin van der Sar began his career in the clubs of his hometown, where he was noticed by Louis van Gaal. As a result, van der Sar moved to Ajax, becoming one of the key players in the second "golden generation" of the club. He won four league titles, three Dutch Cups and a UEFA Cup with Ajax. 1992 of the year and the Champions League 1995 of the year. V 1995 year he was recognized as the best goalkeeper in Europe. Van der Sar also played in the Champions League final 1996 of the year, however, in that match, Ajax lost to Juventus in the penalty shoot-out. In total, van der Sar played 226 matches for Ajax and scored one goal from the penalty spot (against De Grafschap in the season 1997/98 ).

    V 1999 In the year van der Sar moved to the Italian club Juventus, for which he played 66 matches in Serie A, after which he lost his place at the gate. He became the first non-Italian goalkeeper in the history of Juventus.

    Dissatisfied with his role as substitute goalkeeper at Juventus, van der Sar moved to Premier League club Fulham in 2001 year for an amount of about £ 7.1 million. In total, he played 154 matches for the summer residents.

    Van der Sar joined Manchester United on 10 June 2005 year, the amount of the transfer was not disclosed (according to some reports, it amounted to £ 2 million). United manager Sir Alex called van der Sar the team's best goalkeeper since Peter Schmeichel.

    5 May 2007 Van der Sar took a penalty against Manchester City to secure a 1-0 victory for United in the Manchester derby. The following day, Chelsea failed to beat Arsenal at the Emirates, guaranteeing United's ninth Premier League win and Van der Sar's first English league medal. Edwin was named to the PFA Team of the Year at the end of the season. 2006/07 . Three months later, van der Sar became the hero of the FA Super Cup match, parrying three Chelsea kicks from the penalty mark in a penalty shoot-out, after which United became the winners of the Super Cup.

    Season 2007/08 became very successful for van der Sar: he helped the club win the Premier League title, as well as the Champions League. In the Champions League final, it was van der Sar's save from Nicolas Anelka's penalty shootout that ensured Manchester United's victory over Chelsea.

    12 December 2008 2009/10 .

    January 27 2009 of the year, after beating West Bromwich Albion 5-0, van der Sar helped Manchester United set a new club record and a Premier League record with 11 clean sheets ( 1032 minutes) in a row. Previous record set by Peter in season 2004/05 , was 10 matches ( 1025 minutes). The series of clean sheets did not end there, and four days later van der Sar broke the English Championship record held by Reading's Steve Deth ( 1103 minutes) and set to 1979 year. On February 8, van der Sar held another "dry match" with West Ham, and his streak lasted until 1212 minutes, beating the British record set by Aberdeen goalkeeper Bobby Clarke ( 1155 minutes) in 1971 year.

    February 18 2009 van der Sar's "dry streak" lasted until 1302 minutes, surpassing the single-season world record set by José Maria Bulhubasic ( 1289 minutes) in the Chilean Championship 2005 year. The record streak came to an end against Newcastle on 4 March when van der Sar conceded a goal in the 9th minute of the match. In total, van der Sar spent 1311 minutes without conceded goals in the championship. This "clean sheet" was a key factor in winning Manchester United's 11th Premier League title. Van der Sar has won the Golden Glove award this season with 21 clean sheets in the Premier League.

    Van der Sar injured his finger in the Audi Cup pre-season match and missed 12 of United's old games of the season. 2009/10 . October 6 2009 van der Sar made his first appearance since injury in United's reserves game against Everton. On 17 October, he returned to the main squad, playing in a match against Bolton, which ended in a 2-1 victory for United. On November 21, van der Sar was injured again and was out for 12 matches, including due to family circumstances (his wife suffered a cerebral hemorrhage before Christmas). January 16 2010 he returned to the team when United beat Burnley 3-0.

    February 26 2010 van der Sar extended his contract with United for one year, until the end of the season 2010/11 . In the end of January 2011 Edwin announced his decision to retire at the end of the season 2010/11 .

    Van der Sar's last game was the Champions League final. 2010/11 against Barcelona, ​​in which the Catalan club won with a score of 3: 1.

    Although his debut in the national team was, to put it mildly, not very successful. After a series of superb performances for Ajax in the Champions League, then-Orange manager Guus Hiddink selected Van der Sar in June 1995 for a European Championship qualifier against Belarus. However, there was a huge confusion. The Dutch lost in Minsk, and Sergei Gerasimets scored the only goal after Van der Sar's mistake. Five years later, all this - the loss of the Dutch to the Belarusians and Van der Sar's mistake - seems even more unrealistic.

    Unlike most Ajax players in the mid-90s, Van der Cap is not a graduate of the club's famous football school. He started playing in the amateur team "Noordwijk", and got to Amsterdam in 1989 thanks to the friendship of the coach of "Noordwijk" Ruud Bring with Louis van Gaal. Four years after Stanley Menzo's several blunders in the UEFA Cup quarter-final against Auxerre, Van der Sar had a chance to win a place in the starting line-up, which he used brilliantly. Largely thanks to Van der Sar, Ajax won the Champions League, the Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup in the mid-90s, and also had no equal in the Dutch championship for three years in a row. However, after the decisions of the European Court in the Bosman case, the great team fell apart. Van der Cap, by the way, stayed in Amsterdam the longest. It wasn't until a year ago that he finally decided to change the scene.

    Many leading European clubs claimed the Dutch goalkeeper, including Manchester United, who were looking for a replacement for Peter Schmeichel. Van der Cap chose Juventus. "I decided to go to Italy because I really enjoy learning about other cultures and there isn't much difference between Holland and England. But that doesn't mean I don't like the Premier League. Maybe I'll have time to play in England...More important everything for me was to be in a great club... Juventus is without a doubt one of the greatest clubs in Europe."

    In Turin, Van der Cap got used to it very quickly. Juventus have conceded just 20 goals in 34 league games, far fewer than any other team, and it's not the goalkeeper's fault that the Turints missed the Scudetto. Nevertheless, Van der Cap admits that the first season in Italy was not as easy for him as it might seem at first glance. "Goalkeeping tasks in Italy and Holland differ significantly. In Holland, entertainment is as important as the result, and therefore creative functions are assigned to everyone, including goalkeepers. In Italy, the result is the only criterion, and for goalkeepers the most important thing is - reliability".

    Naturally, Van der Sar had to rebuild. However, the Dutchman so impressed the coach of "lOventyca" Carlo Ancelotti with his ability to make accurate passes with his feet to the partners that the goalkeeper was allowed "liberties" when putting the ball into play, and one can even say that over the past season the style of Juventus' actions when moving from defense to attack has undergone significant changes. "At first, I was required to immediately kick the ball away from the goal in a critical situation. But now they know that I can start a sharp attack, and they use this quality of mine."

    For now, the problem for Van der Sar is that he doesn't know Serie A strikers well.

    According to Gazzetta dello Sport, in order to achieve perfection, Van der Sar needs to improve his game on exits, especially at high innings. The Dutchman is also not a specialist in repelling penalty kicks. Both in Ajax in the 1996 Champions League final against his current club, and in the national team in the 1996 European Championship quarter-final against France, and in the 1998 World Cup semi-final against Brazil, he failed to save a single blow in the post-match series. However, Van der Cap believes that there is no pattern here.

    "As the European Championship approaches, the pressure increases," says Edwin. "But I'm calm about it. I only have trouble sleeping when I miss a ball that, in my opinion, could be reflected."

    Best of the day

    “In general, I think that the grandiose expectations of our fans cannot affect the performance of the national team for the worse. After all, we have long been accustomed to this, and then almost all of us play for big clubs. The main thing is to approach the European Championship in optimal physical condition.”

    By the way, the fact that the Juventus player is protecting the gates of the Dutch is a good sign. In the post-war years, the Italians won two major tournaments, the 1968 European Championship and the 1982 World Cup, and both times the goalkeeper of the national team was the representative of the "old lady". namely Dino Zoff.

    Disagreements with the aristocracy over the pay of the masons led Edwin to found a criminal organization called the Defias Defias. Van Cleef was considered one of the most dangerous threats to the kingdom, until the heroes of the Alliance killed him in the depths of the Deadmines.

    Formation

    From childhood, Edwin was best friends with Matthias Shaw, and he taught him the art of shadows, hoping that one day they would work together.

    Over time, Edwin was elected head of the guild of masons - the best builders among people. They were unsurpassed creators, and their taste and flair were forever preserved in the beautiful buildings erected by the guild. The masons worked for years to rebuild Stormwind after the First War. Edwin also spearheaded the construction of Nethergarde Keep, which was to keep watch at the Dark Portal.

    When the restoration of Stormwind was completed, the nobles, under the influence of Lady Katrana Prestor, refused to pay enough gold for the work, claiming that the masons were demanding too much. Although the guild received some pay for years of work, the masons felt they deserved much more. Edwin openly demanded a refund, and in response, the aristocrats ordered the dissolution of the guild.

    This demand angered VanCleef, and he led a massive riot in the streets of Stormwind. The rebellion was chaotic and had consequences: Queen Tiffin Wrynn, Varian's wife, was killed in the confusion. Edwin fled the capital with his faithful masons and announced the creation of the Defias Brotherhood. During the uprising, Edwin's most trusted assistant, Basil Thredd, was detained and thrown into the city jail. While awaiting trial and investigation, Tredd was practically forgotten.

    Defias Brotherhood

    Edwin was aware of Westfall's insecurity and used his superior strength to drive many farmers off their land and take over several gold mines. Van Cleef had the resources at his disposal, and he used them to draw up a plan with which he could take revenge on the government of Stormwind.

    The leader of the Brotherhood taught his people the thieving skills he had learned in the capital and helped them adapt to the new life of criminals who attacked travelers. When the Stormwind City Guard began fighting the Brotherhood, the outlaws armed themselves with instruments and weapons provided by Van Cleef and his mechanics.

    Edwin's tactics became increasingly ruthless, as the Brotherhood robbed the merchants who brought goods to the city and continued to seize the farmlands that provided food for the people of Stormwind. Van Cleef was getting more and more money and used it to bribe the mercenary squads. Some of the Brotherhood were captured, but Edwin was able to play in his own interests here too - an uprising was organized in the prison.

    dead mines

    The source of information in this section is World of Warcraft Classic.

    Edwin's secret refuge was the Dead Mines, located under the mountains of Westfall. He is on board the ship in a vast grotto and was waiting for the right moment to finally deal with his enemies - the Stormwind nobility. However, a traitor appeared among the Brotherhood, who agreed to cooperate with the authorities. He led a party of heroes through a secret passage to the Brotherhood's hideout, and the carnage began.

    The heroes were able to make their way to the ship on which VanCleef was hiding, and defeated his closest associates. Vanessa, Edwin's daughter, hid in a secluded spot and watched as the heroes destroyed her father and cut off his head as proof of their victory. The head was delivered to Gryan Stoutmantle, who declared that the event meant the end of the Defias Defias.

    Heritage

    It turned out that among the aristocrats there were conspirators who agreed to cooperate with the Brotherhood in order to destroy King Varian. SI:7 agents managed to find out about this in time and dealt with the conspirators. The King was informed of what had happened, and he thanked the heroes for thwarting the Brotherhood's plans and killing VanCleef.

    Later, Jaina Proudmoore, whose people encountered the Brotherhood's outlaws on the shores of the Dustwallow Marsh, discovered that the Brotherhood had taken part in the kidnapping of Varian planned by Katrana Prestor.

    Five years after her father's death, Vanessa van Cleef is old enough to resurrect the Brotherhood.

    It rarely happens that the subject of an interview FFT becomes the general manager of the football club. But it turns out even less often that the CEO is also an eight-time winner of gold medals in the championships of two countries and has two Champions League cups in his piggy bank.

    “The way I try to make my club more successful in terms of generating income and winning titles is similar to my captaincy in the days when I played,” says Edwin van der Sar, CEO of Ajax, trying to find similarities between dominance in the penalty area and in the boardroom. The Dutchman believes that, despite the lack of rich business experience and an impressive store of knowledge in this area, almost 20 years spent in football give him the necessary vision of how to manage the club. Especially with the club where, from 1990 to 1999, he showed an excellent game, became the champion of the Netherlands four times, won three Dutch Cups, a UEFA Cup and a Champions League Cup, defeating Milan in 1995.

    All of the above should be of great help to Edwin when he answers your questions about his excellent career.

    - Have you always dreamed of becoming a goalkeeper? Remember the day you first stepped into the gate?

    Chris Ambler, Portsmouth

    - For the first year and a half I was a field player. But one day our keeper didn’t come to the game, and the coach told me: “Edwin, you are the tallest, so you will be at the gate.” And things went so well that in the end I stayed there.

    For many years I played for a small amateur team Noordwijk and did not even count on the fact that my dream of becoming a professional football player would ever come true. When I was about 19 years old, I received an offer from Sparta (Rotterdam) to be their third goalkeeper. However, they were only willing to pay for my moving. So I decided to stay at Noordwijk. And then a few days later they called me from Ajax and asked me to come and sign a contract with them, which I did.

    - What do you think about the growing popularity of this type of goalkeeper as the goalkeeper-last defender? You always played well with your feet, didn't you contribute to such popularity?

    Nev Sing, Facebook

    - Back in the 90s at Ajax, we developed a system in which I participated in building a positional attack, and this can be useful if you want to stick to a certain style of play. But sometimes I think people give it too much importance. The goalkeeper is on the field primarily to prevent the ball from entering the goal.


    “When Louis van Gaal worked in England, he seemed a little eccentric at times. Was he the same at Ajax?

    Laura Matthews, Facebook

    - In fact, he has not changed much in terms of how he communicates with the press and how he behaves in everyday life (say, at a dinner party). I once visited one of Manchester United's training sessions when he coached the team, and I saw again the same purposeful person who constantly focuses on the progress of his players. The way he interacted with the players, the key elements of training and his general rules - all this was very familiar to me, even though many years had passed.

    - Do you think any other Dutch team will be able to lift the Champions League trophy? Unfortunately, this is now unlikely.

    Andy Green, Merseyside

    – [puffed out his cheeks] It will be very, very difficult to do. Even in my time, 20 years ago, it was really a huge achievement, but then there was a team per country in the tournament, and in the final stages of the competition there were only about 16 teams.

    With the adoption of the new model, it can be said that to some extent all the romance has gone. And although some new rules are being adopted, it seems to me that the big clubs will always dominate the tournament, because with their huge budget they will still bypass the rest of the clubs.


    - That Ajax squad was full of players that any European club wanted to get. With whom did Juventus have to compete for what, in order to finally get your signature on the contract?

    Paul Kelly, Facebook

    - When I left Ajax in 1999, I went to Liverpool and spoke with Gerard Houllier there. I was shown around Anfield, met with the chairman of the board of the club and some of the players. I thought about this for a long time, but when Juventus came to me, I decided that playing in Italy would be a much bigger challenge for me. But just as I was about to move to Juventus, an offer came from Manchester United! At the time, I was talking to Alex Ferguson's brother, even though I was about to sign with Juve. I liked the idea of ​​going to a country with a completely different culture and style of play, but moving to a Serie A club was a leap into the unknown for me.

    I later found out that Ferguson was really interested in signing me, but the chairman of the board wanted to sign Mark Bosnich as a free agent instead. Therefore, they always predicted me for the role of Peter Schmeichel's successor, but in the end it took six months more than planned, and at that time other goalkeepers auditioned for this role. While I was at Fulham, I also heard about interest from Arsenal that never materialized into something concrete that I regretted at the time. And that's why I was especially happy when several times in my career United and I won against Arsenal [laughs].


    - When you played at Juventus with Zinedine Zidane, what was the most amazing thing about his game? And what was the Frenchman like as a person?

    Will Clay, Yorkshire

    “He was a completely normal guy. Italy has all these pretentious guys with beautiful cars and expensive clothes, but Zidane has always been very laid-back. He was often seen wearing jeans and a white T-shirt. He did not hover in the clouds and at the same time showed an incredibly high-quality game. When you passed to him, and the ball flew a little clumsily, he took control of it so clearly that the ball immediately gave way. He knew exactly what was happening around him and could pass to any area. Sometimes it seemed that he moved much faster with the ball than without it.


    - What did you say to Ariel Ortega right before the Argentine "butted" you and received a red card at the 1998 World Cup?

    Darren Walsh, Facebook

    - Ortega wanted to earn a penalty for his team by allegedly tripping over Jaap Stam's foot. And as he rose from the lawn, I bent over him and "expressed doubt about his origin." He got angry and stood up too abruptly!


    - Did you have nightmares when you thought about Francesco Totti at Euro 2000? Do you think you could save that penalty? And how hard was it to lose in the semi-final like that?

    Gustav Henriksen, Maastricht

    - Penalty "panenka" was not the hardest part of everything that we faced. A goal is a goal, and it doesn't matter if they score it with a "panenka" or something else. No, if I had nightmares from that match, they would most likely be associated with all those penalties that we did not convert. We missed two penalty kicks in regular time and then three more in the penalty shootout. Francesco Toldo parried three blows - two of them were from Frank de Boer - but Patrick Kluivert once still hit the Italians. And that ball from Jap Stam probably still remains somewhere on the upper tier outside the goal! We managed to miss five shots out of six, which is obviously too much if you want to get to the final...

    - How did you feel when Gigi Buffon took your place at Juve? If you remember that time, did they make the right choice? Or do you think that it was necessary to leave you?

    Jimmy Wainwright, Cardiff

    - All this happened under not the most pleasant circumstances, although, I must admit, at Juventus I did not reach the level that I demonstrated in Holland. That summer, I even asked for a meeting to hear their ideas for the upcoming season. I was told that they were going to buy a couple of new players, but they assured me that I did not need to worry at all. Then, I think, a week later they signed Buffon for something like £30 million. Of course, for a while that deal was already in the negotiation stage, but they decided not to tell me anything about it when I came to that meeting. So yes, it took me by surprise and I had to go back and look at all the options available to pursue my career.


    - Why did you decide to move from Juventus to Fulham? We weren't really the biggest club at the time!

    Raf M, Twitter

    - At that time in Italy there was just a big hype around goalkeepers: Buffon came to Juve, Francesco Toldo moved to Inter Milan, and Sebastian Frei to Parma. In the top clubs then, one might say, there was a "crush" between the keepers. But then, let's say, I stayed away. Then I spoke with representatives of Ajax, Liverpool and Dortmund. The last two clubs wanted to wait until after the summer transfer window. But I didn't want to be in limbo for so long. Fulham had big ambitions: they became champions of the first division and advanced to the Premier League, they began to buy many new players. And I wanted to get game practice. I consulted with Louis van Gaal, who at that time coached the Dutch national team, and he immediately approved of my choice. It can be said that I considered this transition as a small step back in order to try to take a few steps forward in the future.

    What was Mohammed Al Fayed like as a person during your time at the club? Did he do any particularly strange things?

    Matt Bagnall, Twitter

    - Of course, he did many unusual things, he was an eccentric! Before the match, he appeared at the edge of the field, then went straight to the field and waved a scarf. It usually happened that he came up to me to say hello while I was warming up. He often interacted with the players. On match days, he came to our locker room and sometimes even flew to training in his helicopter. And a couple of times we've had hit streaks, he's given each player a giant bag of food from his Harrods.


    - Were you surprised by the dismissal of Jean Teegan from the post of head coach of Fulham in 2003? It seemed like a tough decision, given that he took the team to the Premier League in 2001 and kept them in the top flight the following year.

    Trevor Bailey, Facebook

    - It was very sad, especially for me, as he was the coach who brought me to the club. Jean was well versed in football, one could immediately say that he played at a very high level. Sometimes he trained with us, and then his skill was immediately visible.

    - Did you ever regret that then, in 2001, you did not go straight from Juventus to Manchester United? That you had to spend four more seasons at Fulham before moving to Manchester?

    Darren Chin, Brunei

    - I really liked London, but I did not plan that I would play for Fulham for four seasons. I thought that I would spend a year or two there, and then move on. Toward the end of my career at Fulham, I even extended the contract for a short period so that the club would receive money for me in the event of my transfer. They told me they wouldn't let me play unless I agreed to renew my contract!

    I found out that United wanted to sign me when I found a voicemail from Alex Ferguson on my phone. It was a special day. At that moment, I thought: “That’s why I came to London – to finally take the next step forward.” Ferguson told me that he needed a player who could lead the defense and direct the players. He said he knew that if the team came under pressure, I wouldn't let the excitement get the better of me.


    - What did you pay special attention to when you studied how opponent players take penalties? And what was going on in your head when Nicolas Anelka approached the penalty mark in the 2008 Champions League final in a penalty shootout?

    PenaltyKickStat, Twitter

    - I remember before that match I studied a huge number of penalty kicks from Chelsea players on DVD. For example, I analyzed about 40 penalties that Frank Lampard took earlier in his career. I made a lot of notes and noted for myself that Nicolas Anelka almost always took a penalty to the right corner of the goalkeeper. Later I heard that Chelsea also studied my game and found that I usually throw to the right. Therefore, I think the players were warned to shoot in the corner to my left, which many of them did. I assumed that Anelka would still choose the other side to strike, and, fortunately, that's exactly what happened.

    When I saved his penalty, it seemed to me that for a few seconds I was just somewhere in another world. I don't think there will ever be a more emotional moment in my life than when I realized we had just won the Champions League final and saw my whole team running towards me. It was the highlight of my entire career.

    - Do you often remember how John Terry slipped (and chuckle a little about it)?

    Peter Johnston, Facebook

    - No, I don’t laugh at this, because I understand that I was miraculously lucky. At that moment, fortune really smiled at us. I must admit, the field was terrible - I slipped a few times myself.


    You are credited for ending the long feud between Ruud van Nistelrooy and Marco van Basten so that van Nistelrooy could qualify for Euro 2008. What did you say to them to smooth out the conflict?

    Thijs van Damme, Facebook

    - I would not say that I became the one who was able to reconcile them. I just expressed my opinion, as the captain of the team, about what will benefit our squad. I drew attention to how valuable Van Nistelrooy could be for us, said that he could be an important player for us in this tournament. I think they are both very stubborn, seriously. In general, I can interact with different people, so I just expressed my thoughts to everyone. But it wasn't like I arranged a meeting or something and demanded that they put all their differences aside.

    Did you ever get bored during that period in 2008/09 when you had 14 straight shutouts and Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra provided an impenetrable barrier ahead of you?

    Griffin Pyle, Twitter

    - No, of course not! [laughs] But I said at the time that this streak would mean absolutely nothing if we weren't champions at the end of the season. Everything was done to achieve this goal. The media and the people who surrounded me, this series of "dry" matches interested me a little more than myself.

    How frustrated were you that your long clean sheet was cut short by a mistake against Newcastle when Peter Lovenkrands scored from a rebound? I have no doubt that you would prefer that the series was interrupted by some magnificent blow.

    Lewis Migor, Facebook

    - Yes, I would prefer this series to be interrupted by some “gun” right in the “nine”. Of course, I could have held this record longer. But on the other hand, I remember another moment when a West Brom player hit the crossbar 10 minutes before I was about to break the record. Therefore, everything is fair.

    - It is often said that when Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were younger, they played at about the same level, but later on they reached different heights, because Ronaldo devoted himself more to improving as a player. Do you think such talk is fair?

    Sam Hurst, Lester

    “They both worked really hard on the pitch, but Cristiano was one level up. Ronaldo paid attention to many other things off the football field, such as how to properly rest and strengthen his body.

    He often stayed after training to work on free throws, and then he would come up to me and say: “Edwin, could you stand in the goal?” I used to say that I was already old and that it would be better for him to practice with one of the young goalkeepers, but he insisted that I be in goal because he wanted to score against me. I often teased him and said things like: “You won’t give a damn about me, Ronnie, and you know it. Better ask a reserve keeper, it will be better for your self-confidence. He began to worry and answered: “No, no. You should be at the gate!” But Cristiano is indeed a very nice guy and the overall impression of him is not really a reflection of his personality.


    Is the United you played for, whose players have won three Premier League titles in a row and also reached three Champions League finals in four years, an underestimated team? United are not talked about as one of the best teams in history, but few clubs have managed to win so many trophies ...

    Brian Woodford, Facebook

    Well, if we wanted to be really the best team, then we had to win two of the three Champions League finals that we played at the time. For example, if we had won in 2009, we would have been the best team in Europe in the last two seasons and the first team to ever win two Champions League titles in a row. Therefore, if we defeated Barcelona in the final in Rome, we would be considered a great team. But, of course, if you look at the players that we had in the roster at that time, we were definitely a very good team.


    - What did you think about the pressure that David de Gea was subjected to at the beginning of his career at United? Is the English media too harsh on foreign goalkeepers?

    Aaron Cassidy, Coventry

    – No, at that time I did not consider the criticism too harsh. He didn't play very well and made mistakes, which is probably to be expected when you come to a big club like United at such a young age. This is a new country for you, where people speak a different language and where there is a completely different style of play. But since then he has done a great job and is able to completely change the attitude towards himself. Now he has become a really good goalkeeper.

    - What happened to the Dutch team, Edwin? Last year's Euro without Orange fans was no longer the same ...

    Ryan Byrne, Liverpool

    - I think from time to time teams fail in qualifying. Remember the same 2002, when we did not get to the World Cup. Today, I believe that we lack top players aged 25-26-27 who can lead the team. When you lose twice to Iceland, you don't deserve to go to the Euros.

    - During your stay at United, you had to leave the field twice, and in such cases a field player remained in the goal. In the match against Portsmouth, this player was Rio Ferdinand, and in the game against Tottenham it was John O'Shea. What advice did you give them then?

    Hannah Stewart Twitter

    “In those situations, I didn’t really have time for advice at all. Against Portsmouth, I suffered a groin injury and Tomas Kuszczak, who replaced me, later received a red card, so by the time Ferdinand got in goal, I was already high up in the stands. And in the match against Spurs, I broke my nose after a collision with Robbie Keane and went to the under-tribune room in order to get help. A few minutes later I heard a deafening roar: it turned out that John O'Shea made a very good save!


    - How well can you hear the fans behind the goal during the match?Can you remember the strangest shout from a fan?

    Michael Baker, London

    - West Ham fans are not the nicest guys. Let's just say that their vocabulary was quite… limited. But what words were thrown at you at the opponent's stadium usually depended on whether you won or lost the match. When your team takes the lead, you don't have to rush to take a goal kick, and that pissed the fans off. And when your team loses and you need to quickly get the ball that flew over the goal, only ridicule comes from the stands. But in general the atmosphere created by the English fans was great and when I lived in England I felt at home.

    – I heard that in 2012 you took part in the New York Marathon. Why did you decide to do this and how long did you run?

    Nathaniel Bullock, Leeds

    A few years ago, a friend of mine told me that he was going to take part in this marathon. I really liked this idea, and I told him: “Maybe you can wait a little more? I will end my career and we will run together.” But then it took a little longer to wait, because I had several renewals with United [laughs]. As a result, the preparation for the marathon took me about two and a half months. It turned out to be a big burden for my body, it took me enough time to recover. But in the end I ran 4 hours 19 minutes.

    Edwin Van der Sar is one of the key elements of Ajax's second golden generation. As part of the capital team in the 90s, this goalkeeper won five championships and three Cups of the country. The wards of Louis van Gaal were indomitable on the European arena - in 1992 they won the UEFA Cup, and three seasons later they won the Champions League. Then in the final in Vienna, Ajax defeated AC Milan 1-0. Later, Edwin became the owner of the European Super Cup.

    In 1999, after Angelo Peruzzi left Turin for Inter Milan, Van der Sar became the first foreigner to score against Juventus, and for two seasons he was the Old Lady's main goalkeeper. In 2001, Juve acquired Gianluigi Buffon from Parma, and Edwin's first-team appearances became limited.

    The Dutchman was bought by the English Fulham for 11.5 million euros, with whom he signed a four-year contract. During the time spent in the “summer residents” he played 154 matches.

    Van der Sar has incredible reflexes for a man of his build and height (197 cm). Plays in a modern style, often coming out of the net, and essentially performing the functions of the last defender.

    Edwin is the main goalkeeper of the Dutch national team. In the summer of 2004, in many ways, it was Van der Sar's excellent performance at the European Championship that helped the Oranges reach the semi-finals of the tournament.

    On 1 July 2005, Edwin van der Sar joined United on a two-year deal with the Red Devils.

    The Dutchman was United's first signing since Malcolm Glaser's purchase of the club and joined the team during the team's July tour of the Far East. He was the latest in a long line of goalkeepers Fergie tried as No. 1 after the departure of Peter Schmeichel in 1999. Mark Bosnich, Massimo Taibi, Raymond van der Gove, Fabien Barthez, Ricardo and Roy Carroll failed to become Big Dan's heirs and left the club.

    The 197cm goalkeeper proved his prowess at all levels and it was believed that with his vast playing experience he would stabilize the club's game at the last frontier after inconsistent play at the gates of Tim Howard's team. With the start of the 2005-06 season, Sir Alex Ferguson made Edwin number one, and commentators soon stopped talking about the "goalkeeper problem" at Old Trafford.

    Van der Sar has become a model of consistency and it's hard to remember the serious mistakes he made in this first season with his new team, on the contrary he had a great season helping the team out at crucial moments. He set a rare achievement for a player, starting all 38 league matches for United, and became only the fourth player to do so since Gary Pallister, who also made every league game in 1994. -95.

    Given his age, he is certainly not a long-term player on the team, and Tim Howard was supposed to take over the role of understudy and gain experience to take over when the time comes for him to take over as No. 1. However, Tim Howard's recent move in Everton they leave him understudy Tomasz Kuszczak and Ben Foster. Van der Sar is still the main goalkeeper for the Dutch national team, played at the World Cup in Germany and will play for his national team at least until Euro 2008.

    In the 2006-07 season, Edwin played in 32 Premier League games, 12 Champions League games and 3 in the FA Cup. He missed several matches in the national championship after breaking his nose in the away match against Tottenham in a clash with Robbie Keane, otherwise he would have spent almost the entire championship at the gates of United.

    The excellent playing form of the Dutchman has become one of the decisive factors on the path of Manchester United to the league title. Suffice it to recall how he stopped Peter Crouch from scoring in the last minute of a 1-0 victory at Anfield, saved a draw by Mark Viduka in the home game against Boro 1-1. In May 2007, he saved Darius Wassel's penalty kick in a derby against City to give Manchester United a 1-0 win.

    The next day, after a draw between Chelsea and Bolton, it became clear that these three points brought the Red Devils the league title. And although Van der Sar became the Dutch champion four times with Ajax, this is his first success in one of the leading European championships - English.

    In the 2007-2008 season, Edwin secured his place in Manchester United history by parrying a Nicolas Anelka shot in the Champions League final at Luzhniki Moscow. Interestingly, Van der Sar's season began in August, also with a penalty shoot-out and also in the game against Chelsea, when he saved three shots in a row and helped his partners win the FA Super Cup.

    At 37 years old, Edwin is still a model of stability and managed to keep his nets “dry” in 23 matches of the season, while United set a club record in the English Championship, conceding only 22 goals during the championship. In European matches, he conceded only 3 goals at all, and rightfully won the second gold medal in the Champions League in his outstanding goalkeeping career.

    The 2008-09 season once again proved that the acquisition of van der Sar was one of Ferguson's most successful moves in the transfer market. The unfading Dutchman managed not only to successfully spend another football year of his career, to replenish his impressive collection of medals of the highest standard, but also to break several goalkeeper records.

    The Dutch goalkeeper went 14 straight Premier League games from 8 November 2008 to 4 March 2009, which was 1311 minutes, which was not only a Premier League record, but also surpassed several other English records for goalkeepers, and elevated Edwin to 6 -th line of the world rating of "impenetrability" of goalkeepers.

    21 times in the course of the English championship, Edwin left his goal “dry” and rightfully became the owner of the Golden Gloves Premier League prize, which is awarded to the goalkeeper for this achievement and was included at the end of the year in the England championship team.

    After breaking a finger and injuring his wrist in a pre-season game against Bayern, van der Sar missed the start of the 2009-10 season and made his first appearance only on 17 October in a 2-1 win against Bolton. But it was only one of his five starts until mid-January, as an injured knee and wife's illness once again prevented him from helping teammates.

    Finally returning to the number one position on 16 January against Burnley, which United win 3-0, Edwin becomes Manchester United's oldest player in the post-war era, having entered the field at 39 years and 79 days, and proves that he is more important than ever for the team. His equanimity, composure, experience and amazing reaction are a huge plus for the Red Devils. The defensive five again looks unassailable, and the central figure in this fortress is, of course, van der Sar. Having made 29 appearances for United this season, the Dutchman kept a clean sheet in 14 of them, while becoming the best goalkeeper in the Premier League in terms of the percentage of saved shots on goal (81%).

    Despite rumors throughout the season that Edwin is nearing the end of his brilliant career, he signed a new one-year contract with the team, and for at least one more season, the Dutchman's fans and teammates need not worry about the last frontier.

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