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Edwin
van der Sar not scared of Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy |
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When Edwin van der Sar was given the task
of keeping out England's finest on Wednesday night, his role turned out
to be mostly that of a spectator.
The Holland goalkeeper was so underemployed he was lucky officials at White
Hart Lane did not ask him to pay an admission fee.
During the 45 minutes he was on the pitch he was called on to show his class
only once, when he produced a great stop to tip over Gary Neville's thunderous
first-half shot.
Otherwise the 30-year-old did little more than watch the impotency of England's
attack and applaud the brilliance of his own strikers.
Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored one of the goals in
Holland's 2-0 friendly win, was particularly impressive and Van der Sar
might find Wednesday turns out to be more productive than it first appeared.
He will be between the posts at Old Trafford with his new team, Fulham,
on Sunday and the recent knowledge acquired from a few days training with
the striker and watching him in action might just come in handy.
"He is in very good form and good shape and it will be hard to play
against him," said the former Juventus goalkeeper who Fulham signed
for £7 million two weeks ago.
"It is not good for the game on Sunday that he is looking so sharp
but he did that for Holland and I was very pleased for him. I expect there
will be a lot of shots to deal with at Old Trafford but, of course, Fulham
are not the favourites."
Van der Sar is sensible to play the underdog card for the newlypromoted
team he has joined, even if it is one the stopper who previously attracted
interest from United and Arsenal is not used to using.
But that does not mean that on an individual level he is particularly anxious
about the task he faces. Van der Sar came up against several United players
on Wednesday night and did not come out of the contest with any psychological
scars.
"I was happy with my own form. I made some nice saves and it was good
for my self-confidence," he said. "It was the first big game in
this country since I have come to play here and it is good to have a good
memory."
As for the £19m Van Nistelrooy, he added: "I know Van Nistelrooy
well because we have both been with the national team for the last two years.
He is a nice guy with great potential in front of goal.
"He is really good and we see that all the time in training, but when
I come up against him we come off about equal. He scores some past me but
I save my fair share too. I do not fear him or anybody else."
So Fulham's goalkeeper is confident he can make a big contribution on his
full competitive debut for the club, not least because he knows one of United's
main threats so well. |
Source Evening Standard by Leo Spall