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Edwin van der Sar Regrets 'Unfortunate' World Cup Final Loss For Holland
Jul 29, 2010 6:25:00 PM
By Zac Lee Rigg, with reporting by Matt Rybaltowsk
As the Netherlands' most capped player, Edwin van der Sar knows a thing or two about suiting up for the Oranje.
The 6-foot-5 goalkeeper even came out of international retirement during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers for two games with other options injured, keeping two clean sheets.
But van der Sar found himself helpless as Holland lost in extra time to Spain in the final this month.
"I'm a goalkeeper so I don’t have that much influence on the game," the Manchester United player said modestly when asked about Holland's tactics in that game. "I watched it at home with some friends from London and was watching at home with the kids. Everyone was dressed in orange - we cheered them on but it wasn’t enough unfortunately."
The Dutch have now played in three World Cup finals, losing all three. The former Juventus and Fulham shot-stopper thinks his countrymen had every chance of finally winning soccer's biggest prize.
"I think [Holland] didn't give anything away. Of course they had some opportunities to score some goals and Robben came back, which was for important for the team. Playing in the final you don't want to lose and it was very unfortunate for the team."
With that chapter of his life closed and the World Cup over, van der Sar is focusing on yet another season with Mancheter United. The 39-year-old is penciled in to start for Manchester United this season as well in a career that doesn't show signs of running out of steam yet.
The veteran is looking forward to the contributions of 22-year-old Javier Hernandez, a new signing from Chivas de Guadalajara who scored on his debut, a friendly against the MLS All-Stars in Houston.
"We only saw him [on Tuesday] for the first time and he trained well," van der Sar said of the striker called 'Chicharito'. "When he came on [Wednesday] he did some good things also and scored an important goal for him and for the fans. Hopefully we can see a lot more of him."
The 2010 World Cup is over, but you can re-live it at Goal.com's World Cup homepage and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
The 6-foot-5 goalkeeper even came out of international retirement during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers for two games with other options injured, keeping two clean sheets.
But van der Sar found himself helpless as Holland lost in extra time to Spain in the final this month.
"I'm a goalkeeper so I don’t have that much influence on the game," the Manchester United player said modestly when asked about Holland's tactics in that game. "I watched it at home with some friends from London and was watching at home with the kids. Everyone was dressed in orange - we cheered them on but it wasn’t enough unfortunately."
The Dutch have now played in three World Cup finals, losing all three. The former Juventus and Fulham shot-stopper thinks his countrymen had every chance of finally winning soccer's biggest prize.
"I think [Holland] didn't give anything away. Of course they had some opportunities to score some goals and Robben came back, which was for important for the team. Playing in the final you don't want to lose and it was very unfortunate for the team."
With that chapter of his life closed and the World Cup over, van der Sar is focusing on yet another season with Mancheter United. The 39-year-old is penciled in to start for Manchester United this season as well in a career that doesn't show signs of running out of steam yet.
The veteran is looking forward to the contributions of 22-year-old Javier Hernandez, a new signing from Chivas de Guadalajara who scored on his debut, a friendly against the MLS All-Stars in Houston.
"We only saw him [on Tuesday] for the first time and he trained well," van der Sar said of the striker called 'Chicharito'. "When he came on [Wednesday] he did some good things also and scored an important goal for him and for the fans. Hopefully we can see a lot more of him."
The 2010 World Cup is over, but you can re-live it at Goal.com's World Cup homepage and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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