Arsenal-Goalkeeper-Manuel-Almunia.jpg”>Personal information
Full name : Manuel Almunia Rivero
Date of birth : 19 May 1977 (1977-05-19) (age 32)
Place of birth : Pamplona, Spain
Height : 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
Playing position : Goalkeeper
Club information : Arsenal F.C.
Number : 1

Early career

Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Almunia started his senior career with CA Osasuna’s reserve team in 1997, playing two seasons with the team in Segunda División B. He went on to spend two more seasons in the category, with FC Cartagena and Sabadell, joining the top flight in 2001–02, with Real Club Celta de Vigo.

However, shortly after joining Celta, Almunia was loaned out to Segunda División side SD Eibar, where he spent 2001–02 as first-choice goalkeeper. During the 2002-03 season, Celta loaned him out to first-division club Recreativo de Huelva, where he played understudy to José Antonio Luque and César, only making two league appearances. Almunia’s debut in the first division came on 17 November 2002, following a red card to the latter, in a 0–3 defeat at Deportivo Alavés.

He then returned to Celta, being loaned for the third and final time, now to Albacete Balompié on 1 November 2003. He made his club debut the following week, in a 1–0 loss at Málaga CF. Almunia achieved first-choice status, making a total of 24 league appearances until the end of the season, while helping Albacete finish 14th.

Arsenal

Almunia signed for Arsenal for an undisclosed fee on 14 July 2004. He was given the number one after Jens Lehmann left for Stuttgart at the beginning of the 2008-09 season. In 2008 Almunia signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.

Source: Manuel Almunia, Arsenal F.C. Goalkeeper, English Premier League Football Club at wikipedia.org

Sunderland

Fülöp made his debut for Sunderland on 9 December 2006 in the 2–1 victory over Luton. In December, Fülöp expressed his desire to join Sunderland permanently.[7] His deal at Sunderland was made permanent for £500,000 on 2 January 2007, in a deal which involved Ben Alnwick going to Tottenham Hotspur.[8]

Fülöp signed a year long loan deal with Leicester City on 16 August 2007,[9] making his debut against Crystal Palace two days later, which ended in a 2–2 draw. On 1 September, the goalkeeper made a string of superb saves against Plymouth Argyle to ensure Leicester a point at Home Park.[10] This would be the first of a number of fine performances from Fülöp. On 26 September, he repeated his string of superb saves which contributed in the team’s shock victory over Aston Villa in the Carling Cup.[11] He was twice named in the Championship Team Of The Week, on 1 October and 22 October.[12][13]

Fülöp made another fine performance against Chelsea in a Carling Cup match on 31 October, twice denying Claudio Pizarro and pushing an effort from Scott Sinclair onto the post, but could not prevent his side from losing 4–3.[14] His form during that season prompted the club to bid for him on a permanent basis in the January transfer window. Fülöp told Sky Sports on 21 December that he was interested in a permanent deal with Leicester,[15] and the club made an offer for him on 29 December, together with Graham Kavanagh.[16] He played his last match for Leicester in a 1–1 draw against Charlton Athletic at the Walkers Stadium on 29 December 2007.[17]

Fülöp was recalled to Sunderland on 31 December.[18] On 4 January 2008, Leicester manager Ian Holloway accused Roy Keane of being greedy after his initial bid to sign Fülöp was rejected. A total of £1 million was offered, however Keane demanded £3 million. Holloway refused to pay more than £1 million, ending any hopes of keeping Fülöp.[19] Fülöp revealed on 25 January that he was unhappy to be recalled by Roy Keane and that he actually wanted to stay at Leicester.[20]

Fülöp was loaned to Stoke City on 22 February 2008,[21] but was recalled by Sunderland just four days later as back up cover to Craig Gordon following Darren Ward’s injury, making one appearance in the final Premier League game at home to Arsenal.[22] Stoke had a bid of £1.7 million for him rejected by Sunderland in June,[23] but the clubs later agreed a fee in July of £3m.[24] However, the deal collapsed after Stoke signed Thomas Sørensen on a free transfer instead, after the deal was stalled because of payments to Fülöp’s agent. Due to Craig Gordon’s injury, Fulop has taken over the goalkeeping position, and was in goal for the second Tyne-wear derby of the season on the first of February 2009. With Gordon’s injuries Marton has become the first choice keeper and proved his worth with many fine performances to help keep Sunderland in the Premier League at the end of the 2008/09 season. He also got recognition for several saves made in the Premier League opener away to Bolton, which they won 1-0.

Source: Marton Fulop, Sunderland Goalkeeper, Sunderland Football Club, English Premier League information at wikipedia.org

Petr ?ech

He currently holds one record: a Czech professional league record of not conceding a goal in 855 competitive minutes (he previously held a record for the most clean sheets accomplished in a single Premier League season (25), set during Chelsea’s 2004–05 title-winning campaign). He also has a club record at his former team Sparta Praha, having gone 928 minutes unbeaten in all competitions in 2001–2002, when his unbeaten run in Czech league competition was combined with his performances in the UEFA Champions League. During the 2004–05 season, ?ech went 1,025 minutes without conceding a goal – a former Premier League record until Edwin van der Sar of Manchester United broke it on 27 January 2009.

Source: English Premier League Football Club, Chelsea F.C., Goalkeeper, Petr Cech information at wikipedia.org.

Heurelho Gomes – Goalkeeper of Tottenham Hotspur – English Premier League Football Club

Heurelho da Silva Gomes (Portuguese pronunciation: [??omis]), born 15 February 1981 in João Pinheiro, Minas Gerais), commonly known as Heurelho Gomes or Gomes, is a Brazilian goalkeeper, who currently plays for Tottenham Hotspur. He previously made a name for himself at Dutch club PSV.

Heurelho da Silva Gomes at Tottenham Hotspur

Following appointment of manager Juande Ramos, Gomes signed for Tottenham Hotspur on 27 June 2008^[2] for a fee believed to be around £7.8 million. Gomes played his first game in Tottenham Hotspur colours in a pre-season friendly match on 19 July 2008 against Segunda División B side Dénia, which Tottenham won 4–2.

Gomes eventually obtained a work permit to play in the United Kingdom, despite playing less than the 75% required amount of games for Brazil in the last 2 years.

Gomes made his home debut on the 10 August 2008, keeping a clean sheet with a 5–0 victory over Roma on Tottenham’s last pre-season friendly, before the English Premiership campaign 2008–09.

Gomes didn’t have the best start to life in the Premier League, as Tottenham lost the first two opening games 2–1 to Middlesbrough and Sunderland respectively, but his commanding presence in goal helped Spurs earn their first point of the season with a draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. However, his reputation took a hit a week later when he “inexplicably let Ashley Young’s weak 54th-minute shot slip under his body”^[3] in Spurs’ 2–1 home defeat against Aston Villa. These blunders continued as he conceded an own goal against Fulham on 15 November 2008, which kept his club mired deep in the relegation zone and also caused Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeping coach Hans Leitert to be sacked on 19 November 2008 in the wake of Gomes’ blunders.^[4] Since his nervous start to his new club, he put in brilliant performances against West Ham United, saving two important shots deep into the match in which Tottenham won 2–0, before earning praise from Harry Redknapp with two world class saves to deny Park Ji-Sung and Ryan Giggs in a 0–0 draw with current champions Manchester United.^[5]

Gomes was injured in Spurs’ 5-1 win over Hull City in the second game of the 2009-10 Premier League season and had to be replaced by second-choice keeper Carlo Cudicini.^[6] After an MRI Scan it was revealed that Gomes suffered damage to his groin which will keep him out for up to a month.^[7] Gomes made his return to first team action in the 5-1 victory over Preston in the Carling Cup on 23rd September 2009,^[8] and made his Premier League comeback in the 2-1 win at Portsmouth on 17th October. During this match the Brazilian made a handful of brilliant saves, one of which was compared by former Spurs ‘keeper Pat Jennings to a famous save made by Gordon Banks against Brazil in the 1970 World Cup.

Source: English Premier League Football Club, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Goalkeepers, Heurelho Gomes information at wikipedia.org

Mark Schwarzer – Goalkeeper of Fulham F.C. - English Premier League Football Club

Mark Schwarzer, OAM (born 6 October 1972) is an Australian football (soccer) goalkeeper who plays for English Premier League team Fulham. He also represents Australia in the international matches.

Fulham

Schwarzer’s contract with Middlesbrough expired in June 2008, and although he was offered a new contract,^[5] manager Gareth Southgate had to plan a future with a new goalkeeper, as on 21 May 2008, Schwarzer signed a two-year deal at Fulham, ending an 11-year association with the Teesside club.^[6] Schwarzer revealed in an interview with The World Game that he had received offers from Bayern Munich and Juventus but declined their offers because they could not guarantee him the position as the number 1 keeper.^[7]

Schwarzer made his Fulham debut in a 2–1 defeat to newly-promoted Premier League side Hull City, but he followed up by keeping a clean sheet in his next match in a 1–0 win at home to Arsenal and played every minute of the 2008/09 season. He kept ten clean sheets during the 2008–09 season in all competitions.

Schwarzer’s contribution was phenomenal as his performances lead Fulham to a high 7th place finish and a place in Europe the next season, a massive improvement on Fulham’s 17th place finish just a season before. Notable scalps included wins over Arsenal, Manchester United and a draw with Chelsea largely due to many spectacular saves from Schwarzer. Incidentally, Middlesbrough were relegated at the end of that season. He received the Fulham Player of the Year 08-09 in his first year at the club.

Source: English Premier League Football Club, Fulham F.C., Fulham Goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer information at wikipedia.org