Clumsy. Flappie ears. Awkward hair. Few believed in Edwin, but he retires as Holland’s best.

By Babette van Haaren, writing from Holland. We started our tribute to Edwin with Mohamed Moallim’s biographical piece on VdS and now we finish with a wonderful piece from Babette, one of the most passionate and knowledgeable Ajax fans around…

Despite Edwin van der Sar never won a European Championship or World Cup with Holland, he enjoys the status of a secular saint in his country. The born Voorhouter is simply the best goalkeeper the Netherlands ever had. That is not only because of his sticky hands, his masterful technique, his ability to precisely place defenders in position and his love for the beautiful game. The most important part of his saint status is that he is a true, loyal and caring family man. Edwin ‘Ice Rabbit’ van der Sar is a gentleman. A jewel as a person and as a footballer.

When he made his debut for Ajax in 1990, people looked at each other with raised eyebrows. This was the man that would become Ajax’s future goalkeeper (he started playing regulary in 1994)? A young man with clumsy, long legs, ‘Flappie’ ears and awkward hair wasn’t what the fans saw as a trustworthy goalkeeper. Edwin marched on, despite the critics, and proved them all wrong.

‘Sar’ is what I call an ‘Ajax goalkeeper’. He brought a new dimension to goalkeeping. Revolutionary maybe (thank you, Louis van Gaal), Van der Sar is not just an excellent keeper, he’s more. He’s also an excellent footballer. In ball possession, his team is not with ten but with eleven field players. Not a single pass backwards is too hard to control for him. Add that to an excellent technique, right and left foot. Van der Sar will always try to play a short ball to one of his defenders. If not, he’ll play the long ball. Never just hoofing it, there’s always an idea behind it. The reason he wasn’t happy in Turin at Juventus is because they didn’t understand his way of goalkeeping. It was his job there to save the balls coming towards him, nothing more and nothing less. No short passes but long balls. Edwin van der Sar needs to play in a team where they build up from behind. He was the first goalkeeper to play like this and since then the job of a goalkeeper has slightly changed.

Some say he has retired past his peak. If your last game is a Champions League final at Wembley, I can’t really say that’s true. Watch his save against Chelsea in the quarter final of the Champions League this year (shown in the GIF below). That save defines Van der Sar for me. Strength, timing,  limberness and flexibility. That one save had it all. Van der Sar had to give everything he had in his 40 year old body, stretching it at its maximum. Simply superb. If you’re 40 and you still can do that and could continue doing it for at least one more year, then no, you shouldn’t have retired a few years back. The final against Barcelona probably wasn’t what he had thought of it but it doesn’t change anything about his status. He’s still the best Holland has ever had.

For me personally, Edwin van der Sar has a special place in my heart as he is one of my all time favourites. As a five year old and football mad girl, Van der Sar was my favourite player. In a period when Ajax had many heroes in their team, from Patrick Kluivert to Jari Litmanen and Frank de Boer, I choose Edwin van der Sar. Still looking as clumsy as he did in 1990. Why? I can’t tell you that because I don’t know the answer myself. I think I felt he was special and time proved I was right.