FERNANDO MUSLERA
Uruguay
Muslera started his professional football career with Montevideo Wanderers, having come through the club's youth system. After impressive performances for Wanderers, Uruguayan giants Nacional opted to take him on loan in 2007. After returning to Montevideo, and a display of successful performances, he began to attract attention from Europe, until he was signed byLazio in 2007.
Lazio
Lazio signed Muslera in August 2007 for a fee of about €3 million.[2] He made his debut for Lazio in a 3–1 home win against Cagliari on 16 September 2007, and made four more consecutive starts, the last which was a disastrous performance in Lazio's 1–5 home loss toMilan on 7 October, a match in which he was at fault on four of the five goals Lazio conceded. That result saw him benched in favour of 44-year-old Marco Ballotta. He remained as the second choice for the remainder of the season, making only four more league appearances and none in the UEFA Champions League. He did however play all of Lazio's remaining Coppa Italia matches, putting in good performances.
Muslera started as second-choice keeper for the 2008–09 season behind new signing Juan Pablo Carrizo but regained the starting spot in January 2009 following a run of poor form by Carrizo, coupled with conflicts with team management. Muslera's first starting appearance in the league this season saw him make several saves in a 3–1 loss to Sampdoria, including blocking an Antonio Cassano penalty. Further impressive performances in away wins over Napoli and Genoa, as well as in his first ever Derby della Capitale, saw Muslera regain a considerable amount of faith he had lost the previous season.
Known to the Lazio fans as castorino, or the "little beaver", Muslera was also an integral part of the club's successful Coppa Italia campaign, making decisive saves against Milan and Juventus as Lazio reached the final for the first time in five seasons. In the final on 13 May 2009, Muslera saved two penalties as Lazio emerged victorious 6–5 in the shootout after the match ended 1–1 in extra time.[3]
The Uruguayan's impressive season saw him cement his position as the Roman club's first choice in the 2009–10 season, despite the arrival of Argentine keeper Albano Bizzarri on a free transfer. Muslera played in goal as Lazio opened the season with a 2–1 win over Inter in the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana, played in Beijing.
Following his successful performance in the 2010 FIFA World Cup he was voted the 7th best goalkeeper in the world by IFFHS.[4]
Galatasaray SK
2011–12 season[
On 19 July 2011, Galatasaray officially announced the signing of Fernando Muslera from Lazio on a 5-year contract while he was on duty in theCopa América with Uruguay.[5][6] The transfer involved Lorik Cana moving in the opposite direction, to Lazio, while Galatasaray also paid €6.75 million to Muslera's former club, Montevideo Wanderers who owned 50% of his playing rights.[7][8] The total value of his transfer is therefore believed to be in the region of €12 million, making Muslera at the time the most expensive goalkeeper transfer in Turkey[9] and the fifth most expensive goalkeeper of all time. (However Lazio valued the sale of Muslera for a peppercorn fee as well as signing Cana also for peppercorn fee as a special accounting arrangement) He will earn €2 million a year.[10]
On 5 November 2011, Muslera was selected the man of the match after saving his first penalty for Galatasaray in the match against Mersin İdmanyurdu as the game ended 0–0. On 8 April 2012, the last day of the Turkish Super League, he scored his first goal of his career from a penalty kick against Manisaspor. He also broke a new club record for every foreign player scoring for Galatasaray in a single season. The same match also resulted in Muslera keeping his 19th clean sheet of the season, an all time league record.[11] and also becoming the Süper Lig Goalkeeper of the year, where he played all league matches with Galatasaray and he is among the Champion Squad.
2012–13 season
He continued to become Galatasaray's first choice goalkeeper, playing in the first match of the season in a 2–1 league victory over Kasimpasa. On 19 September 2012 he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a match against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Though Galatasaray lost the match 1–0, he saved a penalty from Nani. Following games against SC Braga, CFR Cluj he kept his first clean sheet in the competition in a 1–0 victory against Manchester United at the Turk Telekom Arena. He played 33 league matches out of 34 with Galatasaray and he was again among the Champion Squad.
International career
Muslera had been called up for the Uruguayan national team on numerous occasions, but did not earn his first cap until 10 October 2009, when he started in Uruguay's 2–1 away win over Ecuador. The match was Uruguay's penultimate qualifier for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
2010 FIFA World Cup
He made his FIFA World Cup debut against France on 11 June 2010, Uruguay's opening game of the tournament and the second game on the opening day of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He kept a clean sheet during all 3 of Uruguay's group matches (0–0 against France, 3–0 against South Africa, and 1–0 against Mexico).In the round of sixteen, Uruguay faced South Korea, before the goal that Uruguay conceded, Muslera had set a record for longest unbeaten goalie in the World Cup. Muslera was decisive in the quarterfinal match against Ghana, when he saved two penalties at the penalty shootout. Muslera was a key component of the Uruguay team that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup and subsequently finished fourth in the tournament.
2011 Copa América[edit]
Muslera was called again by coach Óscar Tabárez to represent Uruguay as the first choice goalkeeper at the 2011 Copa América, which was held in Argentina. He was selected Man of the Match in the quarter-final match against Argentina in which Uruguay went through on penalties, with Muslera saving a penalty from Carlos Tévez to win them the match. Uruguay went on to win the Copa América, defeating Paraguay 3–0 in final.