Van der Sar Looks to Equal van Breukelen’s Double
It’s a year for doubles in Europe. Manchester United took the most prominent, by capturing both the Premier League title and the Champions League. There was also a Cup double for Rangers, and depending on today’s results, Lyon and Inter could both manage the league-and-cup double as well. But there’s one combination of prizes only one man can boast, being starting goalkeeper for the Champions League and European Championships winners in the same year. That man is Hans van Breukelen, and Holland’s Edwin van der Sar wants his record.
Van Breukelen won the exceedingly rare Euro double exactly twenty years ago, when he led PSV Eindhoven to the European Cup, and then took Holland through Euro 88, beating the USSR 2-0. The two legendary keepers have plenty in common. Both spent the largest chunk of their careers in the Netherlands, van Breukelen with PSV and van der Sar with Ajax. Both left home for England, van Breukelen to Nottingham Forest and VDS, of course, to Manchester (by way of Juventus). Both are known as fantastic penalty stoppers. Van Breukelen stopped a penalty in both of his European finals in 1988, one the deciding penalty in a shootout in the European Cup and the other during play in the Euro final to keep his shutout. Van der Sar has laid down his share of penalty denial as well, saving three consecutive spot kicks to hand United the Community Shield at the start of this season.
Van der Sar will certainly not have an easy road to the Euro double. Just getting out of the group stages, with Italy, France and Romania standing in the way, will be no mean feat. But if he does it, his status as Dutch legend will be even further solidified, and he can wrap up his international career in the best possible company.
Related Posts
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
|
Comments


The english cheer for the Italians? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
NOBODY cheers for the italians except their own people!!!! AND there is good reason for that! I will explain if I must.
Posted from
Canada




That’s probably the least dorky picture I’ve ever seen of van der Sar.
Posted from
United States


Comments are closed
Send Your Tips!
Email tips[at]worldcupblog[dot]org
Euro 2008 Club Football News
- Barton's Ban: Too Little Too Late from the FA
- Europe’s 10 Most Overpriced Transfers; Or: Prem Transfer Roundup.
- Everton's New Signing: The Incredible £15m Unibrow
- Chelsea Defender Gets 12 Month Ban For Spitting
- Would Somebody Tell Robinho Who He Just Signed For Goddamnit
More Euro 2008 Blogs
Austria Euro 2008 Blog
87 Articles | 97 Comments
Croatia Euro 2008 Blog
169 Articles | 1,715 Comments
Czech Republic Euro 2008 Blog
196 Articles | 319 Comments
France Euro 2008 Blog
692 Articles | 7,572 Comments
Germany Euro 2008 Blog
435 Articles | 2,766 Comments
Greece Euro 2008 Blog
67 Articles | 42 Comments
Italy Euro 2008 Blog
406 Articles | 14,229 Comments
Netherlands Euro 2008 Blog
1,423 Articles | 14,173 Comments
Poland Euro 2008 Blog
220 Articles | 1,315 Comments
Portugal Euro 2008 Blog
418 Articles | 6,316 Comments
Romania Euro 2008 Blog
56 Articles | 271 Comments
Russia Euro 2008 Blog
26 Articles | 87 Comments
Spain Euro 2008 Blog
189 Articles | 1,483 Comments
Sweden Euro 2008 Blog
150 Articles | 318 Comments
Switzerland Euro 2008 Blog
193 Articles | 321 Comments
Turkey Euro 2008 Blog
25 Articles | 254 Comments
UEFA Euro 2008 Championships
546 Articles | 7,250 Comments
Monthly Archives
World 







