Fernando Muslera

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Muslera and the second or maternal family name is Micol.

Fernando Muslera

Personal information
Full name	Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol
Date of birth	16 June 1986 (1986-06-16) (age 25)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Galatasaray
Number	25
Youth career
2001–2004	Montevideo Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2007	Montevideo Wanderers	44	(0)
2006–2007	→ Nacional (loan)	5	(0)
2007–2011	Lazio	96	(0)
2011–	Galatasaray	9	(0)
National team‡
2009–	Uruguay	29	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 August 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 July 2011

Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol (Spanish pronunciation: [feɾˈnando musˈleɾa]; born 16 June 1986 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a Uruguayan footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Galatasaray and is first-choice keeper for the Uruguayan national team.

Club career

Uruguay

Muslera started his professional football career with Montevideo Wanderers in 2004, having come through the club's youth system. After impressive performances for Wanderers, Uruguayan giants Nacional opted to take him on loan in 2007.^[1] After returning to Montevideo, and a display of successful performances, he began to attract attention from Europe, until he was signed by Lazio in 2007.

Lazio

Lazio signed Muslera in August 2007 for a fee of €3 million.^[1] 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 to Milan 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. Muslera 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 May 13, 2009, Muslera saved two penalties as Lazio emerged victorious 6–5 in the shootout after the match ended 1–1 in extra time.^[2]

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.^[3]

Galatasaray

On 19 July 2011, Galatasaray officially announced the signing of Fernando Muslera from Lazio on a 5-year contract^[4] while he was on duty in the Copa 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 the most expensive goalkeeper transfer in Turkey^[9] and the fifth most expensive goalkeeper of all time. He will earn €2 million a year.^[10].Muslera was red-carded on the 14' minute in the game between Karabükspor - Galatasaray (22 September 2011). As the ball was assisted to Jamaican Luton Shelton, Shelton was going one-on-one with Muslera, only Gökhan Zan was there but Muslera decided to escape outside the 18-yard box. Resulting the two colliding by Muslera's foot around Shelton. Muslera was sent a straight off Red-card but also Injured, he came off with the Stretcher-bearers and #11 outfield Spanish player Albert Riera had to play in goals for the free-kick, despite having substitutes, Coach Fatih Terim decided to put Substitute goalkeeper #86 Ufuk Ceylan on. Ufuk pulled off by some great saves. The game finished 1-1 and Muslera will be out for the Galatasaray - Eskisehirspor from his red-card, but in doubt of his Injury.

International career

Muslera had been called up for the Uruguayan national team on numerous occasions, but did not earn his first cap until October 10, 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 June 11, 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). 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

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 Tevez to win them the match. Uruguay won the Copa América, Muslera played all the games.

Honours

Club

Lazio

• Coppa Italia: 2009
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2009

National team

Uruguay

• 2010 World Cup: Fourth Place
• 2011 Copa América: Winner

Personal

• IFFHS Best Goalkeeper 2010: 7º Place

References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/fernando-muslera/transfers/spieler_58088.html
2. ^ Muslera the hero as Lazio win Italian Cup on penalties – Yahoo! Eurosportgoooll, 5/13/09
3. ^ http://spor.ekolay.net/haber.asp?PID=2623&HaberID=756562
4. ^ http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/fernando-muslera/aufeinenblick/spieler_58088.html
5. ^ Kamuyu Aydınlatma Platformu - Fernando Muslera – Fernando Muslera'nın Galatasaray'a transferi konusunda bildirim, 7/19/11 (Turkish)
6. ^ Muslera Signs for totenham
7. ^ Muslera totenham'da (Turkish)
8. ^ http://spor.milliyet.com.tr/51-milyonluk-kaleci/spor/spordetay/21.07.2011/1417051/default.htm
9. ^ http://www.fotomac.com.tr/Adana Demir/2011/07/21/bu-eller-20-milyon-euro
10. ^ http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3276/serie-a/2011/07/20/2582939/official-AdanaDemir-sign-fernando-muslera-from-lazio-on

External links

• Fernando Muslera at National-Football-Teams.com
• Lazio sign keeper Muslera – Sky Sports, 29 August 2007
• Muslera Meltdown – Goal.com, 8 October 2007
• Biography in Spanish
• Biography in Turkish

Persondata
Name	Muslera, Fernando Nestor
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 June 1999
Place of birth	montevideo, uruguay
Date of death
Place of death