Van der Sar is one of the club’s greatest goalkeepers and certainly the best since Peter Schmeichel, who won the Champions League with United in 1999. Van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka’s penalty in the shoot-out and retired from playing after the club lost to Barcelona in the 2011 Champions League final. He is now the CEO of his first club, Ajax, having been marketing director for the Amsterdam club.
Gary Neville missed out on a starting spot through injury, and Brown proved a very able deputy, making the right-back slot his own in the run to 2008 glory.