Edwin Van Der Sar
Birthplace:
Voorhout, Holland 29/10/70 - Position: Goalkeeper - Appearances : 8 -
International caps: 50
Edwin van der Sar has a great wealth of experience, an impressive collection
of winners' medals and almost a century of international caps under his
belt. Van der Sar's ability is without question. He is deceptively agile for
a big goalkeeper and terrifically capable in the air. Edwin is the sixth
Dutch player to join Manchester United, following Arnold Muhren, Raimond van
der Gouw, Jordi Cruyff, Jaap Stam and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
He was a product of the famed Ajax youth system, and won his first European
trophy when the Amsterdam side beat Torino on away goals to clinch the
1991/92 UEFA Cup.
He won his second European trophy three years later, when he helped Ajax to
triumph over AC Milan in the 1994/95 Champions League Final. He narrowly
missed out on another winner's medal the following year when Ajax lost the
'96 final to Juventus on penalties.
Van der Sar's Ajax career also yielded a European Super Cup triumph and four
Eridivisie (Dutch League) titles before he moved to Italian giants Juventus
in 1999 - at a time when Sir Alex Ferguson had earmarked him as one of his
favourites to replace the outgoing Peter Schmeichel. After two seasons in
Turin, Edwin sought a move after Juve recruited the immense Gianluigi Buffon.
Jean Tigana's Fulham quickly snapped him up for £5million and he made his
Cottagers debut against United at Old Trafford on 19 August 2001. Tangible
glory has always proved elusive on an international stage for Edwin. He was
outstanding in the Dutch sides which exited in the semi-final stage at the
1998 World Cup as well as the 2000 and 2004 European Championships.
Hopefully he will now be the catalyst for United to regain the Premiership
and Champions League trophies. So far in 2005/2006 Edwin has definitely
proved to be a solid last line of defence and saved United on many
occasions.
Tim Howard
Birthplace:
New Jersey, USA 06/05/79 - Position: Goalkeeper - Appearances : 26 -
International caps: 6
The six feet two inch American international keeper joins the Reds from the New
York/New Jersey Metrostars, with whom he had spent five seasons. The winner of
numerous awards in the US - Aquafina Goalkeeper of the Year, New York Life
Humanitarian of the Year, Nickelodeon GAS Play of the Year - he is perhaps known
as much for suffering from Tourettes Syndrome as he is for playing in goal. He
is involved in creating awareness for the disorder which causes its sufferers to
make rapid and involuntary tics and vocalizations and was named on the Board of
Directors of the Tourette Syndrome Association of New Jersey in 12 November
2001. He trained with AC Milan in November 1998, and is considered one of the
best basketball players to be playing in the MLS. Tim was called up to the US
national team in 2001 for friendlies against Ecuador on 6 July and South Korea
12 September. A member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team in Sydney, he also kept a
clean sheet in a World Cup warm-up match against Ecuador in March, 2002 - their
first-ever win against Ecuador. He has a total of six international caps. Tim
played against Juventus on the pre-season US tour in the Giants Stadium (his
"home") in front of 80,000 and pulled off some fine saves. Tim was made first
choice for the start of season 2003/2004 and has proved to be very reliable as
United posted their best early season for some years.
Luke Steele Birthplace:
Peterborough 24/09/84 - Position: Goalkeeper - Appearances : -
International caps:
Sir
Alex Ferguson wasted little time in swooping to sign young goalkeeper Luke
Steele from Peterborough on 13 May 2002, after he impressed United officials
during a month's loan at Old Trafford earlier in the 2001/2002 season. The
former England Under-18 international signed a four-year deal for an initial fee
of £500,000 rising to £2.25million. Luke made 19 appearances for the U19's
during the 2002/2003 season plus 2 for the reserves. He was also part of the
victorious FA Youth Cup winning side in his first full season with the club.
His former boss at Peterborough Barry Fry said of Luke: "I watched him develop
in the six years I had him at Peterborough. "He has got fantastic potential and
he is the best goalkeeping prospect I have ever seen at the age of 17."
Edwin van der Sar has a great wealth of experience, an impressive collection
of winners' medals and almost a century of international caps under his
belt. Van der Sar's ability is without question. He is deceptively agile for
a big goalkeeper and terrifically capable in the air. Edwin is the sixth
Dutch player to join Manchester United, following Arnold Muhren, Raimond van
der Gouw, Jordi Cruyff, Jaap Stam and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The six feet two inch American international keeper joins the Reds from the New
York/New Jersey Metrostars, with whom he had spent five seasons. The winner of
numerous awards in the US - Aquafina Goalkeeper of the Year, New York Life
Humanitarian of the Year, Nickelodeon GAS Play of the Year - he is perhaps known
as much for suffering from Tourettes Syndrome as he is for playing in goal. He
is involved in creating awareness for the disorder which causes its sufferers to
make rapid and involuntary tics and vocalizations and was named on the Board of
Directors of the Tourette Syndrome Association of New Jersey in 12 November
2001. He trained with AC Milan in November 1998, and is considered one of the
best basketball players to be playing in the MLS. Tim was called up to the US
national team in 2001 for friendlies against Ecuador on 6 July and South Korea
12 September. A member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team in Sydney, he also kept a
clean sheet in a World Cup warm-up match against Ecuador in March, 2002 - their
first-ever win against Ecuador. He has a total of six international caps. Tim
played against Juventus on the pre-season US tour in the Giants Stadium (his
"home") in front of 80,000 and pulled off some fine saves. Tim was made first
choice for the start of season 2003/2004 and has proved to be very reliable as
United posted their best early season for some years.
Sir
Alex Ferguson wasted little time in swooping to sign young goalkeeper Luke
Steele from Peterborough on 13 May 2002, after he impressed United officials
during a month's loan at Old Trafford earlier in the 2001/2002 season. The
former England Under-18 international signed a four-year deal for an initial fee
of £500,000 rising to £2.25million. Luke made 19 appearances for the U19's
during the 2002/2003 season plus 2 for the reserves. He was also part of the
victorious FA Youth Cup winning side in his first full season with the club.