1,302 Minutes, 108 Caps & #10 Takes a 3rd
Just when I think I can't be any more proud of Edwin Van der Sar, he makes me want to burst with joy…again! He's hit his 14th successive league clean sheet in the 3-0 win over Fulham on Wednesday, 18 February, 2009. In fact, if he can keep the Blackburn Rovers from making a goal within the first 89 minutes on Saturday, he will beat the current record holder, Dany Verlinden, Belgium's Club Brugge keeper. Dany Verlinden's record of 1,390 minutes, was set in back in 1990, which means that it will have taken nearly twenty years for someone break the record, proving the task is not an easy accomplishment.
Frankly, nothing about our Eddy's job is easy, but he makes it look so! His brilliant height and sticky hands that can catch a ball or smack it away have made him the best keeper in the league. The young guns can learn so much from him, the main lesson being that with years of experience comes a natural grace and flow that can't be forced. His movements are not jerky and rushed. His eyes never leave the ball and his body is like a sound wave reaching from the field outward. It's unseen, this power he has and yet, it's huge and right there for the world to admire. Yes! I admit I gush!
Now, I do like to give credit elsewhere and that is to who is probably Van der Sar's best partner on the field, #5 Rio Ferdinand. His absence was palpable when he had back issues recently and couldn't play. I see these two as a great partnership and Rio defends his keeper and acts as Captain frequently enough, that I believe when Neville retires, the job should be Rio's full-time. I know Giggs sometimes wears the band, but personally, I sense a better communication experience between the refs, Rio, SAF, and Edwin Van der Sar, when Ferdinand is captain. (Just to throw it out there, my favorite ref is Webb and that will be for another blog!)
So, I've gone this far without mentioning the biggest story of the week and that was Becks earning his 108th cap and making his 100th start in Seville. That places him on par with the most legendary name in the history of English football, Bobby Moore. Some people are offended by this. They feel that he doesn't deserve the honor. Why not? Are they afraid it takes something away from Bobby? Peter Shilton broke the record by 17, earning 125 caps long ago and no one seems to be saying anything about that. It's just that the "pretty-boy" Beckham is now level with the only England captain to ever win a world cup. Well, guess what? He's not going to always be the only one. It will happen again and if we want to split hairs, a British team recently won the World Cup…Manchester United. A team for which Beckham once played. (Hair splitting from the other side argues that Becks had late or quick walk ons that shouldn't have counted as caps.)
So, let's congratulate David Beckham for accomplishing something that not many players get to do. He loves the game so much, he's been loaning himself out just so he can keep playing and it has added up. Game after game, we've now reached a point where we can say, "Look Beckham and Moore are equal on caps!" We only count upward from here with Beckham…from now on, his tally goes higher. By the way, in his loaning himself out to keep playing, Beckham has said that his body fat is the lowest it's ever been in his life. Ok, I'm a woman writing this blog, you gotta know that makes me drool a little. (You guys would be the same way if it were Gisele Bundchen that you were writing about.)
Wow! What is wrong with Victoria Beckham? She should be spending every possible moment with him – offering to measure his body fat!
The last and happiest item is that #10 WAYNE ROONEY IS BACK! Yay! He came back from his injury and he scored the third goal of the game…just as we would expect him to do. He looks like little Opie Taylor with the grin on his face, and that's what we've been wanting to see for weeks now! Welcome back, mate – you were missed!
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