Pascal Zuberbühler

Pascal Zuberbühler

Zuberbühler in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Pascal Zuberbühler[1]
Date of birth	8 January 1971
Place of birth	Frauenfeld, Switzerland
Height	1.97 m (6 ft 5 ^1⁄2 in)[2]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1983–1992	Frauenfeld
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1992–1999	Grasshoppers	187	(0)
1999–2006	FC Basel	178	(0)
2000	→ FC Aarau (loan)	2	(0)
2000–2001	→ Bayer Leverkusen (loan)	13	(0)
2006–2007	West Bromwich Albion	15	(0)
2007–2008	Neuchâtel Xamax	51	(0)
2008–2011	Fulham	0	(0)
Total		446	(0)
National team
1994–2008	Switzerland	51	(0)
Teams managed
2011	Philippines (goalkeeper coach)
2012	Philippines (goalkeeper coach)
2015	Philippines (goalkeeper coach)
2015–	Derby County (goalkeeper coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Pascal Zuberbühler (born 8 January 1971) is a Swiss former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He currently works as a goalkeeper coach for Derby County.

Club career

Born in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, Zuberbühler made 187 appearances for Grasshopper Club Zürich between 1991 and 1999, winning the Swiss Super League three times and the Swiss Cup once. He moved to FC Basel where he played 217 games, winning the Championship another three times & the Swiss Cup twice. He is famous for his saves in a 1–1 tie with Liverpool in a Champions League game. He also played 13 league games and five Champions League games for Bayer Leverkusen in the 2000–01 season.

He signed a two-year contract for West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer from Basel on 14 July 2006.^[3] His first appearance in an Albion shirt was in a friendly against Motherwell, where he earned praise from his manager Bryan Robson.^[4] He then kept a clean sheet on his competitive début as Albion beat Hull City 2–0 on 5 August 2006.^[5] However, he was generally not a success with the Baggies and was dropped straight from the first team by new manager Tony Mowbray after starting 15 games, apparently due to the fans' poor reaction to Zuberbühler, who would boo and sarcastically applaud him when he played. Mowbray made the Swiss keeper available for loan in November.^[6]

Zuberbühler returned to the first team after Russell Hoult was suspended, and responded by keeping a clean sheet in the 3–0 FA Cup win at rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, but it proved to be his last game for the club.^[7] January transfer-window signing Dean Kiely immediately replaced Zuberbühler in the first team, and he felt this harmed his chances for Euro 2008, due to be held in his home country, Switzerland. In February 2007, he was told by West Brom that he was "surplus to requirements", and that they would not stand in his way should a club come in for him. He signed an 18-month contract at Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax, moving there on a free transfer.^[8]

In July 2008, on the invitation of former Switzerland national team boss Roy Hodgson, Zuberbühler joined Fulham on trial. He first appearance for the club was against Korean side Busan I'Park as a second half substitute for David Stockdale in the one-nil defeat.^[9] On 6 August 2008 Fulham signed Zuberbuhler on a one-year deal. He only made one first-team appearance in the League Cup throughout the 2008–09 season, but his professionalism and team ethic saw him earn a new one-year contract, and he himself has spoken about his contentment at the club.^[10] The 2009–10 season was a disappointment as he made no first-team appearances and was at one point behind even Stockdale in the pecking order. He eventually fought his way back to being Mark Schwarzer's back-up and was in the matchday squad for the Europa League Final. He had signed another one-year deal to remain at Craven Cottage, but was not picked for the team's Premiership squad for the 2010–11 season and faced an uncertain future at the club.^[11] On 1 July 2011, Fulham confirmed that Zuberbühler had left the club on a free transfer, after coming to the end of his contract.^[12]

International career

Zuberbühler with Switzerland.

Zuberbühler has been capped 51 times by Switzerland and was a member of the Swiss squads for Euro 2004, Euro 2008 and World Cup 2006. Despite having received criticism in the run-up to the 2006 tournament, particularly his handling of crosses, he did not concede a goal in exactly 463 minutes of football against hard shots from France, South Korea, and Togo as his team lost in the last 16 on penalties against Ukraine. Switzerland are the only team in the history of the tournament not to concede a goal in normal time. Zuberbühler holds the record for most successive matches at an international tournament without conceding (five games). On 11 June 2008, he played his last game with the Swiss national team, during the 2–0 victory over Portugal in Euro 2008, held in his home country.

Coaching career

Philippines

In 2011, he had a short stint as the Philippines national football team goalkeeping coach, reuniting with Fulham team-mate Neil Etheridge, prior to the Philippines' first round first leg 2014 World Cup qualifier against Sri Lanka in June 2011.^[13] He returned for a second spell in November 2012, ahead of the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup,^[14]and again in 2015.^[15]

Derby County

In June 2015, Zuberbühler joined Derby County as a goalkeeping coach.

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 452. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
2. "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
3. "West Brom sign keeper Zuberbühler". BBC Sport. 14 July 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
4. "Robson praise for debutant keeper". BBC Sport. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
5. "West Brom 2–0 Hull". BBC Sport. 5 August 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
6. "Baggies pair available for loan". BBC Sport. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
7. "Wolves 0–3 West Brom". BBC Sport. 28 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
8. "Zuberbuhler ends West Brom spell". BBC Sport. 14 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
9. "Busan l'Park v Fulham". Fulham FC. 23 July 2008. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
10. "Best in the League". Fulham FC. 26 June 2009.
11. "Squad Confirmation". Fulham FC. 1 September 2010. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
12. "Player Departures". Fulham FC. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
13. "Azkals get Swiss goalkeeper coach". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
14. "Neil Etheridge’s mentor to help Azkals goalkeepers in Suzuki Cup". InterAKTV. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
15. "Neil Etheridge back in lineup as Azkals book Bahrain friendly this March". InterAksyon.com. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.

External links

• Pascal Zuberbühler career statistics at Soccerbase
• Yahoo! Sports profile
• Leverkusen who's who (German)
• Neuchatel Xamax profile