Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is not concerned about winning his first ever FA Cup medal ahead of the semi-final against Manchester City
Manchester United shotstopper, Edwin van der Sar has insisted that he is unfazed by missing the FA Cup medal from his illustrious career and has claimed that the pursuit for the League Cup souvenir will not distract him during United’s FA Cup semi-final
against local rivals, Manchester City at Wembley Stadium
Van der Sar said, “An FA Cup medal is missing from my collection but I am not going into the game more focused or tense because of that. Obviously, it would be a great achievement to reach the final and give ourselves a chance of winning the tournament but
at the moment I am not that bothered.”
Van der Sar, who boasts the honour of playing most games for Netherlands, will retire by the end of the ongoing 2010-11 and has won almost every laurel at the club level with Manchester United but he has yet to win the FA Cup medal. The 40-year-old Dutch
keeper was the vital member of Manchester United squad that last reached the FA Cup final but were defeated by Chelsea.
Van der Sar has feature only once in this season’s FA Cup campaign and his only appearance came in Manchester United’s dominating win over Arsenal in the quarter-final. The Dutchman, who played both legs of the UEFA Champions League against Chelsea, is now
set to make consecutive starts and will be in goal for United against Manchester City.
The former Dutch international also insisted that his hunger for FA Cup medal will not distract him in the semi-final against a side, which he feels has become one of the strongest forces in English football over time.
Van der Sar admitted that with the money Manchester City have spent on bringing in the quality players, they have become a difficult team to beat but the Dutchman also insisted Manchester United are better quality wise.
Van der Sar said, “The derby has always been good. Maybe for them, the game is not played with the heart quite so much and more with their quality players. We have plenty of them as well though and hopefully they can make a difference for our team as they
have done in the last couple of games. We are a good team and we challenge for honours virtually every year.”
It will be a huge day for both teams, as they would be pursuing their season long dream of reaching the FA Cup final and winning it.