World Football Quotes: Edwin van der Sar: The legend of immortality. Two days ago at Wembley, there was hustle and bustle in the silence, and deep affection in the hustle and bustle.
Some people reach the top, and some people say goodbye to the stage.
The 40-year-old Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar completed the last game of his career, but the farewell may not be perfect.
When the long journey of twenty years comes to an end and you look back, you can realize how this man interprets an ageless legend.
Our journey slowly drove along the road of the Amsterdam Arena. It was twenty years ago that as a world-famous star processing factory, a large number of talented players stood out: the DeBoer brothers, Seedorf, Davis
, Overmars, Hluivert, and a tall, thin young man-Edwin van der Sar.
His saves in front of the goal were surprisingly calm and his reactions were quick, and he soon became the No. 1 patron saint of this young Ajax team.
At just 24 years old, he helped Ajax win the Dutch Eredivisie title for a second time and continued to occupy the goalkeeper position in the Dutch best team of the year.
1995 was the year when Van der Sar reached his peak.
In the UEFA Champions League final, Ajax faced AC Milan, which was in full swing. Edwin van der Sar made many heroic saves to keep the goal.
Then came the emergence of the talented boy Kluivert, which put Ajax in the Champions League.
Time will remember that young team. Under the leadership of captain Blind and veteran Rijkaard, they reached the altar.
After successfully saving a penalty kick in the Toyota Cup, the 24-year-old Van der Sar has completed the Grand Slam of the Ajax era at the beginning of his career.
However, as they became successful and famous, these young people inevitably left one by one.
Ajax lost to Juventus in the 1996 and 1997 Champions League and failed to defend the title.
Van der Sar is the last member of Ajax's golden generation to travel far.
Our former partners are long gone, and in the memories of those years we can only lament that time is gone.
It was not until 1999, after winning the Dutch Cup and the league championship, that Van der Sar, who became famous as a young boy, said goodbye to the place where he grew up at the age of 28.
But those green years and roads are always there in my heart.
That year's opponent, Juventus, was Van der Sar's next stop. As the first non-Italian goalkeeper in Juventus' history, Van der Sar's years here cannot be described as successful.
Although there are occasional wonderful performances, most of them are regrettable.
So many years later, many fans have forgotten what he looked like wearing a Zebra jersey.
The biggest disappointment was when they lost the Serie A championship for two consecutive years.
For the first time, in the 1999-00 season, in a spell-like heavy rain in Perugia, Van der Sar had no reaction to the opponent's goal, and Juventus also lost the championship in the final round.
In the 2000-01 season, in a game about the championship, Del Piero and Zidane's goals helped Juventus lead Roma 2:0, but Hidetoshi Nakata's world wave made Van der Sar do nothing, 1 minute before the end.
, Van der Sar's save allowed Montella to equalize the score, and Juventus once again missed the championship.
This save also accelerated Juventus' decision to introduce Buffon and abandon Van der Sar.
No one would have thought that Fulham, a small club on the Thames River, would become Van der Sar's next stage.
This newly promoted team, participating in the Premier League for the first time in history, signed the 31-year-old Van der Sar for 5 million pounds under the money policy of owner Fayed.
It was really a time away from the world. Under the starlight of the Premier League, few people would pay attention to a team in the middle and lower reaches, although their No. 1 has been performing brilliantly in the first few seasons.
It is generally believed that this will be the end of Van der Sar's club career. Although he was once brilliant but unsuccessful, his rich experience may make him depressed, so he stayed at Fulham for 4 years.
At the age of 34, a low-level mistake deepened people's doubts about him. He slowly disappeared in a low profile and finally became the last memory Van der Sar left for Fulham.
At that time, it seemed that he was nearing the end of his career, and he could only enjoy the joy of being a world-class goalkeeper in the Oranje.
Speaking of his days with the Oranje, eight years ago was the starting point for him to represent the Netherlands in major competitions - the 1996 European Cup.
The 25-year-old Van der Sar took over the No. 1 jersey of the Oranje from De Gouye and has been fighting for 12 years.
Unfortunately, in the quarter-final penalty shootout, Van der Sar failed to save a penalty and watched the French team advance to the semi-finals.
Two years later, Edwin van der Sar still performed well in the French Summer, representing the Dutch team all the way to the quarterfinals.
The conflict with the little donkey Ortega became the focus of that cup.
So many years later, many Argentine fans still lament that everything is fine with Van der Sar and he just owes Ortega an apology.
In the semi-final against Brazil, Van der Sar performed bravely against Ronaldo and Rivaldo.
Under his protection, the Dutch team has a chance to reach the final again after 20 years.
However, the penalty was still a penalty nightmare, destroying the ultimate dream of Van der Sar and the Oranje.