Schwarzer - Gunning for Glory | Thebigtip

For those of you who follow the greatest sport in the world, football, you would perhaps have heard of a certain Mark Schwarzer. The veteran Australian keeper has thus far had a very impressive career spanning over 20 years; from humble beginnings in Sydney's south west to the pinnacle of world club football, the English Premier League and of course 2 World Cup Finals representing Australia. His greatest achievement will go down in the history books of Australian sport; an incredible performance between the sticks during the penalty shoot out against Uruguay that booked Australia's berth in the 2006 World Cup Finals. The ultimate professional, Schwarzer has arguably been Australia's most consistent player over the last 5 years and has without doubt, like a good wine, become better with age. There is something missing though isn't there?

Marconi, Kaiserslautern, Bradford City, Middlesbrough, Fulham- I think any footballer would be quite proud to have represented those clubs over his career. What every player dreams of though, is playing for one of the "big clubs". And now at the age of 38 one of those clubs, Arsenal, has come knocking at Mr Schwarzers door. One of the best teams in Europe on their day Arsenal has failed to add to their extensive trophy cabinet since 2005 and the main cause behind this has been their defensive liabilities and lack of a world class goal keeper. With an attacking line up that features Fabregas, Van Persie, Walcott, Arshavin, Rosicky it's hard to fathom how no major silverware has seen it's way to Highbury. That is until one watches the brain explosions that regularly occur at the back during Arsenal games and the inept goal keeping displays from Manuel Almunia and Lucasz Fabianski. To get to the point, Schwarzer is a perfect fit for Arsenal for the upcoming season and a solution to a major problem they've had over the past few seasons.

Schwarzer has declared "Who wouldn't be keen to go to Arsenal? At this stage in my career it's an amazing opportunity to play at that level and one I really want to take."

He is absolutely right. He is coming into the twilight of his career and this could be his last chance to play Champions League as well as really competing for the Premiership. He deserves his chance after years of stellar performances for, let's face it, 'mid table' teams and Fulham should stop trying to hang onto him, let him go to Arsenal and erect a statue in his honour for almost single handedly getting them to the Europe Final last year.

Let's look forward to seeing him in the famous colours of "The Gunners" soon!

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