His performances for the Cottagers caught the eye of Manchester United and the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson. In a game against Aston Villa in his final season at the club he memorably saved two penalties from Juan Pablo Angel in a 1–1 draw. In total, he notched up 127 league appearances while at Fulham. He made his league debut on 18 August 2001 in a 2–3 away defeat against Manchester United. The following day, Van der Sar was officially unveiled by Fulham, and upon his arrival, he described the move as a "nice friendly atmosphere" and that he felt "appreciated". On 1 August 2001, Van der Sar opted to play in England and joined newly promoted Fulham in a shock move worth £7.0 million, signing a four-year contract. Unwilling to remain as second-choice behind Buffon, Van der Sar made it clear he wished to move on after two years in Serie A. Van der Sar lost his place in the summer of 2001, after the Bianconeri purchased Italian international goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from Parma for 100 billion lire (approximately £32.6 million), a world-record fee for a goalkeeper. The following season, Van der Sar helped Juventus finish 2 points behind eventual champions A.S. On the final day of the 1999–2000 season, Juventus lost to Perugia Calcio, allowing Lazio to win the title. He was the first-choice goalkeeper during his first two seasons in Italy, making 66 Serie A appearances as Juventus finished runners-up in the league twice under Carlo Ancelotti. He became the first non-Italian to keep goal for the Turin club. He made his debut for The Old Lady in the 1–1 draw with Reggina at the Stadio Delle Alpi. In 1999, van der Sar's stature as one of Europe's top goalkeepers drew attention from Manchester United, who sought a replacement for Peter Schmeichel however, Van der Sar moved to Italian club Juventus for a fee believed to be in the region of £5 million. 1 he won the Dutch Football Goalkeeper of the Year, he would then go on to retain the award for the next 3 consecutive years. He made a total of 226 appearances for Ajax and scored a penalty for Ajax to complete a 8–1 victory over De Graafschap in the 1997–98 season. He was in goal for Ajax in the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final, but had to make do with a runner-up medal as they lost the penalty shootout against Juventus. He enjoyed a long and successful stint in their senior side, winning the 1991–92 UEFA Cup and the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League, as well as the 1995 Best European Goalkeeper award. Even though he joined late he went into the reserve team and bided his time before getting his first-team call-up by Louis van Gaal. At a relatively late age, he was brought to the attention of Louis van Gaal, and subsequently signed for Ajax. He is considered, by critics and fellow players, as one of the best goalkeepers of all time.īorn in Voorhout, van der Sar began his career at his hometown club, Foreholte, and then VV Noordwijk. Van der Sar has won several individual awards, including Best European Goalkeeper in 19, and UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year in 2009. Along with being the most capped player for the Netherlands national team, with 130 caps, he is also the oldest player to win the Premier League, at 40 years and 205 days old. In the 2008–09 season he set the world league clean sheet record by not conceding a single goal for 1,311 minutes. Van der Sar also set numerous records in his career. Van der Sar is the second most decorated goalkeeper of all time (behind only Vitor Baia) and one of the most successful footballers ever, having won 27 major trophies in his career, mainly at Ajax and Manchester United. Van der Sar also won the UEFA Cup with Ajax in 1992. He is one of the few footballers to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different teams – with Ajax in 1995 and Manchester United in 2008 in the latter, he was also named UEFA Man of the Match. He remained there for nine years before moving to Italian club Juventus and then to England, first to Fulham and then to Manchester United. He started his senior career at Ajax and is considered to be a member of a golden generation of players at the club. He came out of retirement to play for Dutch amateur team VV Noordwijk. He currently works as the chief executive officer at Ajax. He is the second most capped player in the Netherlands national team's history. During his career he played for Ajax, Juventus, Fulham and Manchester United. Edwin van der Sar OON ( ) (born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
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