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 the departure of Angelo Peruzzi from Turin to Inter Milan, Van der Sar became the first foreigner to score against Juventus, and for two seasons he was the main goalkeeper of the Old Lady. 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 tall(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 - went out to starting lineup United in all 38 league games, and became only the club's fourth player to do so since Gary Pallister, who also played every league game in 1994-95.

Given his age, he is certainly not a long-term player on the team, and Tim Howard was expected 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 of the Dutch national team, he 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.

Excellent game form The Dutchman was one of the decisive factors on Manchester United's path to the league title. Suffice it to recall how he stopped Peter Crouch from scoring in the final minute of a 1-0 win at Anfield, saved a draw from Mark Viduka at home to 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 still remains 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 missed only 3 goals at all, and rightfully won the second gold medal in the Champions League in his distinguished 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 the highest standard, but also to break several goalkeeping records.

The Dutch goalkeeper went 14 straight Premier League matches from 8 November 2008 to 4 March 2009, which was 1311 minutes, not only a Premier League record, but also surpassed several other English records for goalkeepers, and lifted 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 in the England championship team at the end of the year.

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 a knee injury 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 played 29 games 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 close to completing 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.

Dutchman Edwin van der Sar is one of the most titled goalkeepers of the 21st century. The athlete has eight championships at the club level and two bronze medals of the European Championships with the national team. Van der Sar is the only goalkeeper to win the Champions League twice: with Ajax in 1995 and with Manchester United in the Moscow final in 2008. I talked to the goalkeeper about the World Cup in Russia, Euro 2008 and the best goalkeepers on the planet.

“Leaving for a European club could be a new challenge for Akinfeev”

Lenta.ru: 10 years ago you were already in Moscow. How do you like the city today?

Edwin van der Sar: Moscow will forever remain in my memory, because here I won one of the main titles in my career - the Champions League. I like the city, especially now, when so many fans from all over the world have come to Moscow. Definitely, Russia opened up from a very pleasant side.

Have your impressions of Moscow changed over these 10 years?

When I was a player, I didn't get to see much. Our route passed between the hotel and the stadium, and in our free time we just wanted to relax. Of course, now the image of your country has changed due to politics. But the 2018 World Cup has improved the attitude of foreigners towards Russia.

The tournament turned out to be intense for the fans and broke the record for the number of penalties awarded. Already implemented 21 penalty kicks. (The previous record was 18, dated from the 1990/1998/2002 World Cup). How does a goalkeeper prepare for a penalty kick?

Now different sources of training are open for goalkeepers: you can find which corner a particular player hits more often. If he hit 17 times to the right and only three to the left, you will be ready to hit. However, new difficulties arose: the forwards began to punch right in the center. Therefore, the goalkeeper needs to train more carefully.

Is the new Telstar Dream ball designed for the World Cup helping the goalkeeper to stop shots?

Yes. Adidas has gone to great lengths to make the ball comfortable for the goalkeeper. But football is made for scoring goals. If it becomes very easy for the goalkeeper to cope with the blows, then the fans will not be happy.

Photo: Alexei Filippov / RIA Novosti

It is technically possible to prepare for a penalty, but how do you set yourself up emotionally? Is it important for a team to have a leader who will energize the rest?

Still would! Emotional recharging is important for any team. The person who will say: it will be difficult, but we will manage. Most often, this role is assigned to the captain. In the case of the Russian team -. He is an experienced goalkeeper who long time stands for Russia and knows what's what.

Does Akinfeev have the opportunity to move to a top club? Or is it missing for him?

Akinfeev had to leave Russia much earlier. Although I moved from Fulham to "" only at 34 years old. Therefore, the transition to a European club could be a new challenge for Akinfeev and an opportunity to play against great players. I advise him to leave CSKA and try to gain a foothold in Europe.

I wouldn't say so. He scored a first-class save in the last match. group stage against South Korea. And this despite missing the season due to injury. Before the injury, Neuer was the leader of both the German national team and Bayern Munich. I hope he returns to his previous level soon.

“I did not expect such a result from the Russian team”

Germany failed to qualify from the group, most of the favorites also went home, not living up to expectations. Who was your favourite?

Before the semi-finals, I thought that, most likely, England would win. Although in the first match of the 1/2 finals I supported Belgium with all my heart. They are our neighbors, we speak the same language, and many Belgian football players play on our teams.

How surprising was the performance of the Croats for you?

I thought it would be difficult for them. They spent a lot of energy on two penalty shootouts, the match against the Russian team turned out to be especially difficult. But the emotional charge helped them. A small country with about four million people beat the huge Russia and surpassed the British.

Russian football players are unknown abroad, because the Premier League is practically not broadcast on television. Therefore, I watch your athletes only during international competitions. When I watched the friendly matches, I did not expect such a result from the Russian team at all. Apparently, the home world championship gave the players an additional impetus for a good game.

The Dutch team did not manage to get to this World Cup. What was missing from the team?

Do you really think that our team has problems? Yes, we didn't make it to the World Cup. But we had a difficult group in the qualifying round: France, Sweden, which left the Italians without the World Cup. We have a lot of good young players who will be full of energy for Euro 2020 and we will break into the elite again.

What was missing from this World Cup?

Dutch fans. You go to Red Square and meet fans from Colombia, Spain, Brazil, but there are no guys in orange uniforms. Hope next international tournament I still see native colors.

"2008 became the year of Russian football"

For the Russian team, the victory over the Netherlands at Euro 2008 was one of the most significant in football history countries. What do you think about when you remember that match?

It seems to me that that victory happened largely thanks to the coach, who worked in Holland for a long time and knew our players well. Maybe Russia was in a little better shape. It was a shame to lose to Russia then, because for me that match was the last in the Dutch national team.

Were you surprised by the outcome of that meeting?

He didn't surprise me. If the team got to the European Championship, then it knows how to play football. Moreover, we have heard a lot about football players from Moscow and St. Petersburg clubs, which by that time had already won the Cup. Probably, 2008 was the year of Russian football.

Before the match, did you know at least one of the Russian football players?

Not really. Your football league practically not covered in Europe. And if we watch Russian clubs in the Champions League, we see a huge number of foreigners. The star of the team is more likely to be a Brazilian than a Russian.

Do you think it is possible to see the teams of Russia and the Netherlands in the final of the European Championship 2020?

Everything is possible in football. But if this happens, then Holland will definitely win.

(Born in 1970)

He played in the clubs "Noordwijk" and "Ajax" (Holland), "Juventus" (Italy). In 2001 he moved to the Fulham club (England). Since 1995, the goalkeeper of the Dutch national team.

For more than ten years now, the main goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has taken his usual place at the gates of the Dutch national team. Outwardly, he is, perhaps, the exact opposite of Oliver Kahn - the figure is not powerful, but long and thin, while his face surprisingly retained boyish-simple features, and besides, Edwin van der Sar's ears are somehow quite childishly a little protruding. The German and the Dutchman also differ in their goalkeeping style - van der Sar does not play harshly, but rather elegantly, but at the same time very rationally. Van der Sar also has one more “zest” that distinguishes him from other goalkeepers: he owns the most accurate pass at any distance, and often a sharp Dutch attack starts right from his gate.

But, of course, his main duty is to protect his own goal, with which he copes with dignity. Both the Dutch footballers and numerous fans of the Orange Team are confident in the reliability of their goalkeeper.

And the first "pancake" in the national team came out with him, I must say, "lump" - exactly the same as many other wonderful goalkeepers. In June 1995, Guus Hiddink, then coach of the Dutch national team, entrusted the 25-year-old goalkeeper with a goalkeeper for the first time in qualifying match European Championship against the team of Belarus - not the strongest opponent. The game was held in Minsk. The Dutch did not succeed in attack that day, and van de Sar made a gross mistake, and Sergei Gerasimets scored the only goal.

Nevertheless, Hiddink believed in the young goalkeeper, considering his oversight an unfortunate misunderstanding or a manifestation of excessive excitement. The coach could not help but be impressed by the game van der Sar in his club Ajax. Just in 1995, Ajax reached all possible heights: became the winner of the European Champions League, beating Milan 1-0 in the final, then won the European Super Cup, defeating Real Zaragoza, and, finally, became the owner Intercontinental Cup, having won against the Brazilian club Gremio.

In addition, in the mid-1990s, Ajax became the Dutch champion three times. To a large extent, the club owed all these successes to the performance of their goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar. However, the whole team was then magnificent and almost entirely consisting of pupils of the famous football school Ajax, among which were, for example, Patrick Kluivert and Edgar Davids.

But van der Sar himself, who was born in the city of Voorhout, got to Ajax in a different way. He began playing for the amateur team Noordwijk, whose coach Ruud Bring was a friend of Ajax coach Louis van Gaal. Bring and recommended the young goalkeeper to his friend. So in 1989, Edwin van der Sar ended up in a professional club, but for four long years he sat on the bench. Only in 1993, when the main goalkeeper of "Amsterdam" Stanley Menzo "failed" in the quarter-final match with the French Auxerre, van Gaal decided to entrust van der Sar with a place in the gate. Since then, he never left this place, having reached the highest heights with the team.

However, it so happened that in the following year many leading players left Ajax for various reasons. True, the club again managed to reach the Champions League final, but lost to Juventus. Regular time ended in a draw 1:1. The Italians won 4-2 on penalties. Nevertheless, there was nothing to reproach the goalkeeper, he played brilliantly.

In the same 1996, van der Sar, together with the Dutch national team, came to England for the European Championship as the main goalkeeper. In the first two matches group tournament he left his gate untouchable - the Dutch drew with Scotland - 0:0, and defeated Switzerland - 2:0. However last match with the hosts of the tournament, the England team became football Waterloo for the Dutch - 1:4. Nevertheless, the "orange" reached the quarterfinals, where they met with the French team. The main time ended in a draw. But the French won in the penalty shootout - 5:4.

Despite the failure of the Dutch national team, van der Sar was already then called one of the best goalkeepers in the world, noting his elegant and original game. True, some considered his weak point to be his inability to repel penalty kicks. Of the five penalties, the French, in fact, scored him all five. But, on the other hand, claims should also be made against the field players of the Dutch, who scored fewer balls than the French...

Strikingly unlucky for the Dutch in the post-match penalties and in all other big tournaments. Sometimes they didn't score penalty kicks during playing time either. And this is despite the fact that the Dutch national team has always had an excellent selection of players, and much more could be expected from it.

At the 1998 World Cup in France, van der Sar again conceded only two goals in three group stage matches. In the match of the one-eighth final, the Dutch defeated the national team of Yugoslavia - 2:1, and in the quarterfinals the national team of Argentina - 2:1. In the semi-final match, the Dutch played on equal terms with the Brazilian national team. The main time ended 1:1. The Brazilians won 4-2 on penalties.

This fatal misfortune with penalties reached its climax at the 2000 European Championships held in Holland and Belgium. The stadium in Rotterdam was chosen as the venue for the final match, and, of course, the whole of Holland was waiting for the native “orange” team to win. The Dutch team came out as the winner in the group, having won three victories, including over the then world champion team of France - 3:2. In the quarterfinal match, the Yugoslav national team was defeated - 6:1. But then came the day of the semi-final with the Italian national team, led by the then legendary goalkeeper of another generation turned coach, Dino Zoff ...

Zoff chose his usual purely defensive option. Pretty soon one of the Italians was removed from the field. It seemed that a powerful Dutch attack was about to break the Italian defense. But the score to the end remained zero, although the Dutch hit penalty kicks twice. One shot was parried by Italian goalkeeper Toldo, the other hit the post. The Dutch failed to score in extra time. And again, in the penalty shoot-out, the Dutch team lost - 1:3.

Another failure of the national team did not shake the reputation of Edwin van der Sar - he remained and remains to this day one of the strongest goalkeepers in the world. As for him club career, then shortly after the 1998 World Cup, he moved from Ajax to the Italian Juventus. In his first season for the Turin club, van der Sar conceded only 20 goals in 34 matches - significantly less than any other Serie A goalkeeper. True, the goalkeeper himself noted that the task of goalkeepers in Holland and Italy is noticeably different. “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.” And in 2001, Edwin van der Sar signed a four-year contract with the English club Fulham.

Now the famous Dutchman has come to the best time for the goalkeeper football maturity and wisdom, and he is going to play for a long time. As an example for himself, he considers the experience of Dino Zoff, who became the world champion at the age of forty.

It rarely happens that the subject of an interview FFT becomes CEO 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. In particular, the club where, between 1990 and 1999, he demonstrated great game, four times became the champion of the Netherlands, won three Dutch Cups, the UEFA Cup and the 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, although 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 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.

Later I 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, I was always predicted 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 very well. 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 that 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. 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 much were you annoyed that your long series of clean sheets was interrupted due to a mistake against Newcastle, when Peter Lovenkrands scored from the 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 then 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 really wanted to be the best team, then we should have won two of the three Champions League finals 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 in like this. 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. So to speak, vocabulary there were enough of them...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

August 2005

Edwin van der Sar walks past a small table at the edge of the field. He is extremely indignant, although outwardly almost calm. September 1, 2001, when Ireland knocked the Netherlands out of the World Cup in Dublin, is arguably the worst day of the Dutch goalkeeper's career.

It seems that the table will get it now - the goalkeeper raises his leg to deliver a fatal blow. But, having changed his mind, he only knocks down a plastic cup. In this act, the whole van der Sar. The ability to hit instantly, without acceleration, turns it into the best football player among goalkeepers. He also knows how to control his emotions. No wonder he is nicknamed the Ice Rabbit. Both qualities will help him to new job, probably the most intense in football - the goalkeeper of Manchester United, which he took up today, in the game against Everton.

Van der Sar is thirty-four years old. He grew up in a village nestled among Dutch onion fields. And he looks exactly like a country boy. Growth - 197, average for the region. A long, pale, sullen face, like that of a typical Calvinist pastor of the 1872 model, is also characteristic of these places.

As a child, he liked to play football. True, do not stand at the gate, but actively move around the field. However, he never dreamed of turning professional until he was spotted by Ajax Amsterdam. The club was distinguished by original ideas about goalkeepers. Ajax's greatest player and "house philosopher" Johan Cruyff said it was absurd to limit them to just catching the ball. This approach means wasting the energy of one of the eleven players. The goalkeeper must start the attack, pass like a field player. Van der Sar, who attended good hit, was created to implement the ideas of Cruyff. Johan later called Ice Rabbit "Ajax's best attacking player". It is in this club that the future famous player I realized that his task is not just to catch balls. Rather, he must organize the defense so that it does not have to be done. If the ball flew into the goal, it means that something was previously done wrong.

But if van der Sar needs to take the ball, he does it. Ask other goalkeepers about him, and they will surely confirm that he rarely makes mistakes. According to Cruyff, he is “completely versatile”: he equally successfully takes hinged strikes from the flanks, “reads” the game or catches balls flying by ricochet. But above all, like a real Ice Bunny, Edwin never gets nervous. Concentrating before the match, he follows his own definition of reliability: "Take all the balls that are possible." He has only one drawback - he rarely takes "impossible" balls.

“Goalkeepers are crazy,” reads the football stamp. But van der Sar is not like that. He says: “Sometimes I see nice, calm guys go crazy on the field. I may seem insensitive to someone, but I doubt that they are playing 100%.

The Dutchman never seems to lose his self-control, which is not typical of other footballers. Even after a great victory, fighting off his comrades who hug him too violently, he fences himself off with a cold irony that does not seem funny.

When Juventus bought van der Sar from Ajax in 1999, he was considered by many to be the best goalkeeper in the world. Two years later, he was not. At Juve, for the only time in his career, the goalkeeper lost his confidence and made a mistake. The Italians began to tease him with "van der Goal", and Juventus, having previously asked to check his eyesight, sold him. "Van der Gol" joined the ranks of Fulham, who assured that they would rise to glory together. Then the team ran out of money, ambitions moderated. As a result, the former best goalkeeper world" spent four years in a mediocre club.

In a television program aired last December, Manchester United's last great goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel, recommended the Dutchman to United and Arsenal. Van der Sar and his wife, who watched the broadcast at home, were flattered. But none of the clubs ever called. They seem to have enough mediocre goalkeepers. In the Netherlands, the goalkeeper is expected to demonstrate the talent of a field player, in Italy - the ability to hit balls perfectly. In England, they do not expect anything from him, it seems.

Playing on the small "Craven Cottage" was especially offensive for van der Sar - he knew that he was at the peak of his form. His the best match the player counts the meeting between Arsenal and Fulham in 2003. Playing for the Dutch national team, along with the boys who had brought balls a few years ago, he played the 100th match in his native team and finally became a truly brilliant goalkeeper.

Like many goalkeepers, he peaked at thirty-five. Joop Hiel, his former coach explains why: “To be a goalkeeper means to see and understand the situation, to find a solution. And the more often, the easier it is to play. Therefore, an experienced goalkeeper knows the structure of the attack well and manages to organize the defense. The young player does not know how, he only has talent. When he makes a mistake, he begins to doubt himself.” When a similar thing happened to Tim Howard, United's young goalkeeper, the club finally approached van der Sar.

Team coach Alex Ferguson has been recruiting dubious goalkeepers for six years. And he was not alone in this. Such a "blind spot" on the conscience of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Few mentors understand the work of a goalkeeper. It's a shame because only goalkeeping mistakes prevented United from reaching the Champions League. The team still lacks Schmeichel's ability to organize the game. Although he, like most British goalkeepers, did not know how to play football at all, he could start a counterattack by throwing the ball 35 meters right at the feet of a teammate. Van der Sar does the same with passes. Moreover, he does not stand out under the spotlights of the largest club in the world, where any mistake of standing at the gate becomes a national tragedy. In addition, he complements United's "roll of honors", consisting of Roy Keane so far.

In any case, United is just an interlude for van der Sar. He will eventually return to his amateur club in the Dutch Dunes, where he will leave his position as a goalkeeper to play in attack. “Kicking balls is much more enjoyable,” he says.

This text is an introductory piece.

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