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Van Der Sar: "We're Not Done Yet"
Panos Bletsos
Goal.com
Friday May 23 2008
Edwin van der Sar had tasted European
Champions League success before, but that 1994-’95
trophy with Ajax was not as sweet as this one. And he
promised the Manchester United faithful even more titles
in the future…
The 37-year-old Dutchman stole
the headlines across the globe this morning after he
stopped Nico Anelka’s final penalty kick and handed
The Red Devils a dramatic 6-5 shoot-out victory over
Chelsea in Moscow last night. But perhaps more importantly
to him, he was also praised by Alex Ferguson.
The next Schmeichel
“As I’ve said before, one of the most difficult
jobs we have had at this club was replacing Peter Schmeichel,”
the 66-year-old Scot said. “Three years ago we
did that with Ed and you can see the marked improvement
in our defensive performance since then.”
“It was not an accident that he made that save.
When it comes to the last penalty it requires great
experience and patience to wait that fraction of a second.”
The former Juventus Turin and Fulham custodian had
suffered penalty disappointment one too many times before
in equally important matches, finding himself on the
losing side with Ajax in the ’95-’96 Champions
League final and twice with the Netherlands, in the
semi-finals of both the World Cup in ’98 and the
European Championship two years later. And he admitted
he relishes his Hans van Breukelen moment.
Hero
“We didn’t really want penalties, but when
the moment comes you know you can be a hero,” Van
der Sar said. “It’s one of the benefits of
having a long career. I won this final in ‘95 with,
but on the other side I’ve lost a couple [of shoot-outs]
as well, so I know it’s hard. When I lost the Champions
League final in ‘96 I was heartbroken and didn’t
leave the house for three days. So it’s good this
has gone my way.”
“It’s always nice to win, but to win it sort
of yourself… Van Breukelen won it in ‘88 with
PSV Eindhoven against Benfica. He saved the last penalty
and I strived my whole career to get a decisive moment.
And to have that final moment to win the game is fantastic.”
“Not finished yet”
“I’m grateful to have had that opportunity
from Ferguson at 34 to come here to United. Sometimes
I wonder why it didn’t happen sooner, but never
mind. I’ve got two [Premiership] titles and the
Champions League tonight and we’re not finished
yet.”
It was United’s third trophy of the season, following
the Community Shield and the Premier League trophy,
and of course their third Champions League triumph.
But history could be all too different should John Terry
not have slipped a fraction of a second before taking
Chelsea’s fifth penalty kick.
“We were a little bit lucky with Terry’s
slip, although you could say the goal we conceded was
an easy one. The ball changed direction and I slipped,”
said the most capped Dutch footballer ever. “It’s
our luck that he slipped, otherwise it would have been
all over and someone else would be sitting here. Life
and football can change on small things. Penalties are
all about the quality of strikes and you just have to
hope that you save one.”
Van der Sar, who said he knew he would stop Anelka’s
shot, will rest for a few days before reporting for
duty with the Oranje at their training camp in Hoenderloo,
on Monday afternoon.
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