Pascal Zuberbühler

Pascal Zuberbühler (born January 8, 1971 in Frauenfeld) is a Switzerland football (soccer) goalkeeper who currently plays for Fulham F.C. in the Premier League in England.

Club career

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 2000–01.

He signed a two-year contract for West Bromwich Albion F.C. on a free transfer from Basel on 14 July, 2006. His first appearance in an Albion shirt was in a friendly against Motherwell F.C., where he earned praise from his manager Bryan Robson. He then kept a clean sheet on his competitive début as Albion beat Hull City 2–0 on 5 August 2006. 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.

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 F.C., but it proved to be his last game for the club. 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 Neuchâtel Xamax, moving there on a free transfer.

In July 2008, Zuberbühler joined Fulham F.C. on trial. He first appearance for the club was against Korean side Busan I'Park. He appeared as a second half substitute for David Stockdale in the one-nil defeat. On 6 August 2008 Fulham signed Zuberbuhler on a one year deal.

International career

Zuberbühler has been capped 51 times by Switzerland national football team and was a member of the Swiss squad for Euro 2004 and also the squad for 2006 FIFA World Cup. Despite having received criticism in the run-up to the 2006 tournament, particularly his handling of crosses, he did not concede a goal in nearly 400 minutes of football against hard shots from France national football team, South Korea national football team, and Togo national football team as his team lost in the last 16 on penalties against Ukraine national football team. 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, he played his last game with the Swiss national team, during the 2–0 victory over Portugal in the UEFA 2008.

Honours

Swiss Championship Winner (Swiss_Super_League ) 1995, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005

Swiss 2nd Division Winner (Swiss_Challenge_League ) 2007

Swiss Cup Winner 1994, 2002, 2003