The anoraks have had to dig deeper and deeper into their stat books to deny Manchester United’s Edwin van der Sar another goalkeeping record.

His side’s 3-0 win over a toothless Fulham at Old Trafford on Wednesday took the 38-year-old Dutchman’s unbeaten league run to 14 successive games and an astonishing 1,302 minutes.

Some sources had suggested that he would claim the European record for league clean sheets if he kept Fulham out for an hour.

That hope was dashed before the kickoff however when the number crunchers revealed that the mark apparently belongs to Club Bruges goalkeeper Dany Verlinden, who went 1,390 minutes unbeaten in Belgium in 1990, rather than the mere 1,275 minutes of Atletico Madrid keeper Abel Resino.

According to the United website, their man will now have to keep Blackburn Rovers at bay for another 89 minutes at Old Trafford on Saturday before claiming the outright record.

But even that won’t be close to what has so far emerged as the world best.

According to Opta stats on the Daily Telegraph website, Brazilian Mazaropi went 1,816 minutes unbeaten between May 1977 and Sept 1978 for Vasco da Gama.

What Van der Sar does have so far is the English league, Premier League and British league records as well as the longest European league run in one season.

The British record for going unbeaten in all competitions still belongs to Chris Woods who kept everyone out for 1,196 minutes at Rangers in 1986-87.

But how much do any of these matter? However brilliant the goalkeeper, surely such records have as much to do with the quality of the team in front of him than his own skills between the posts.

How does the Belgian league of 1990 really compare to the Premier League, where Van der Sar has to face some of the best strikers in the world on a weekly basis?

The stats are fun but titles are what counts. And while Van der Sar’s league record could run and run, it won’t be much of a consolation if United lose to Inter Milan in the Champions League next Tuesday.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has dismissed Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes, but given his side’s run of form he is perhaps being generous to Liverpool by saying they still have a chance.

“The title race now is going to be between ourselves and Liverpool,” Ferguson wrote in the programme for the 3-0 home win over Fulham that sent the champions five points clear of Liverpool and 10 ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea.

The champions look unstoppable at the moment, with Wayne Rooney scoring on his return from injury and Paul Scholes in fine fettle despite not always being a regular these days. 

Is it all over or will there be a late twist in the tale?

Ferguson thinks Aston Villa could continue to surprise.

“However I shall be keeping a wary eye on Aston Villa, who seem to have picked up the baton from Arsenal,” he said.

 Villa are third, eight points behind United, while Arsenal are fifth and 15 points off the pace.

PHOTO: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson smiles before their FA Cup fifth round match at Derby County, Feb. 15, 2009. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Weighing in at nearly 100 kilos is the man who has brought some badly-needed charisma to Argentine domestic football.

Popularly-known as the Ogre, because of a supposed likeness to the animated film character Shrek, Cristian Fabbiani has become a cult figure for his ability to alternate moments of brilliance with others of near comedy (such as a miss for Newell’s Old Boys that became cult viewing on YouTube).

The fact that he is somewhat chubby for a footballer adds to the fascination.

According to his new club River Plate, Fabbiani has 96 kilos spread around his 1.89 metre frame. However, after joining River from Newell’s Old Boys, coach Nestor Gorosito said he was initially three kilos overweight, bringing him close to the impressive three-figure mark.

Unlike Brazil’s Ronaldo, who has often been sensitive to suggestions that he carries a few kilos too many, Fabbiani uses his physique to bulldoze past opponents and laughs off suggestions that he is fat.

“When they say I’m fat, it makes me play better,” he said. “I try not to go back to my mum’s house because there’s always a lot of food and it’s too much temptation.”

His directness is a refreshing break in a country where players take the bland statement of the obvious to new extremes and where their banalities are eagerly snapped up by two 24-hour sports channels with too much airtime to fill.

Now 25, Fabbiani has only recently made an impact and has taken a roundabout route to his new-found popularity. He began with Lanus, a club from the sprawling southern suburbs of Buenos Aires, moved to Palestino in Chile, then popped up in Israel with Beitar Jerusalem and also found time to help Cluj win the Romanian league.

He has already made two substitute appearances for River, making an immediate impact each time. Against Paraguay’s Nacional in the Libertadores Cup, he set up an injury-time winner and scored the decisive goal himself in the 2-1 league win over Rosario Central on Sunday.

Fabbiani finds himself in the same boat as Paraguayan striker Salvador Cabanas, who has a prolific scoring record for America despite repeatedly being labelled fat.

Former Velez Sarsfield forward Omar Asad said that players who are apparently overweight should not always be written off. “Each player has his own characteristics,” he wrote in the Clarin newspaper.

“I played football well weighing over 90 kilos. My ideal weight was 93. At that weight, I played in the World Club championship final against AC Milan in Japan: I scored an unforgettable goal and we won the title.”

PHOTO (UPPER): Cristian Fabbiani of Argentina’s River Plate waves to fans after he scored against Paraguay’s Nacional during their Copa Libertadores soccer match in Buenos Aires February 12, 2009. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian

PHOTO (LOWER): Actor Mike Myers poses with “Shrek” at the American International Toy fair in New York February 12, 2001. RFS/RCS

Split seconds count in sports photography. Reuters Sports Pictures editor Greg Bos thinks London-based photographer Eddie Keogh captured the moment perfectly when former Arsenal captain William Gallas went head over heels to the ground during an FA Cup match.

CAPTION: Arsenal's William Gallas (top) challenges Cardiff City's Jay Bothroyd during their FA Cup fourth round replay soccer match at the Emirates Stadium in London February 16, 2009. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh (BRITAIN)

We’ve already blogged on Hertha Berlin’s surprise win over Bayern Munich at the weekend but I thought I’d mention one more aspect to the game and the result — this was one of those rare occasions when Dieter Hoeness got one over on his more famous brother Uli.

Uli is a year older than Dieter, almost to the day. They both spent most of their playing days at Bayern but their careers were still very different.

Uli was the flamboyant attacking midfielder, Dieter the scruffy workhorse. Uli was known for his graceful counter-attacking skills and blond hair, big Dieter is best remembered for his headers and for a photograph of him bleeding on the pitch, his head heavily bandaged in a match he went on to score in.

Uli won the 1974 World Cup at the height of his career against a superb Dutch side and also bagged the 1972 European Championships, making 35 appearances for Germany. Dieter only ran out six times for his country, coming out of semi-retirement to lose in the 1986 World Cup final against Diego Maradona’s Argentina.

Uli won the European Cup with Bayern Munich three times, Dieter instead had to settle for two bitter European Cup final defeats in 1982 and 1987.

As Bayern Munich manager Uli has celebrated 16 Bundesliga titles, Dieter has so far won only one with VfB Stuttgart in 1992, where he worked as manager.

When Hertha Berlin climbed to the top of the table on the weekend for the first time in more than two years, it must have been a very sweet moment for Dieter, General Manager at the Berlin club.

While Uli has managed Bayern for 30-odd years with spectacular success and is tipped to take over from Franz Beckenbauer as club president next year, Dieter has quietly worked at Hertha since 1996/97, seeing the team gain promotion to the Bundesliga in 1997.

Since 1999 Hertha have qualified for European competitions five times. This may not be much compared to Uli’s success at Bayern but speaks volumes of Dieter’s commitment to the game.

Uli, sitting dejectedly on the Bayern bench, said after the match in Berlin that Hertha were now major contenders for the Bundesliga title.

Dieter, from experience, was quick to reject the favourites’ tag.

“We certainly are not serious title contenders. Our aim remains a (qualification) place for the Europa League but if there is more in it for us we certainly won’t turn it down.”

With a German championship evading Hertha since 1931, Dieter would for once make a bigger splash than his brother if he brought the “Meisterschale” to the capital.

* or Hoenesses, if you think that sounds better

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s manager Uli Hoeness arrives for his team’s German first division Bundesliga match against Hamburg SV, January 30, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

The (almost complete) lack of Premier League action at the weekend saw thumbs being sucked all over the place, and the Reuters Soccer Blog is no exception. While some were predicting the end of the Big Four, and others picked over Rafa Benitez’s latest contract comments, we found ourselves enthralled by the silky football displayed by Championship side Swansea City in their FA Cup game against Fulham.

Here, Padraic Halpin waxes ornithological about The Swans, while in the post below Neil Maidment bemoans the lack of on-field drama this season. Are they right? Is it just an overreaction? I’ll turn the comments off on Neil’s piece, just to keep things tidy, but they’re on here as usual. For now, over to Padraic:

Watching Swansea City play Fulham off the park on Saturday — even if their reward was only a fifth round replay trip to London — you almost hope they don’t gain promotion to the English top flight.

Swansea, sitting three points outside the championship playoff places with a game in hand, were magnificent in the 1-1 draw, demonstrating the passing game of a second-tier equivalent to the great Liverpool team of the 80’s.

Yet should the team coached by Spaniard Roberto Martinez join the survive-at-all-costs world of Premier League riches, would the one-touch philosophy instilled so finely into players like Jordi Gomez - on loan from Espanyol - and Welshman Joe Allen be preserved?

The widespread praise for Swansea’s “culture club” is actually more galling than encouraging. Would we have been so amazed at an English team endeavouring to win through attractive, attacking football 30 years ago?

“Martínez has done a wonderful job and he has a wonderful team. They play football the right way,” Fulham’s manager Roy Hodgson, whose team haven’t exactly been the worst culprits of a lack of premier adventure, said on Saturday.

Wouldn’t the great Brian Clough have insisted that was the only way to play football? Yet with TV revenue continuing to rise, relegation from the top flight remains too expensive a reality for any club to attempt to cut loose. Points far outweigh performance and one kicking too many at Everton or Bolton might force a change in promoted Swansea’s style.

What is certain is that a tie-of-the-sixth-round awaits Swansea against the European Champions if they can play Fulham off the scoreboard as well as the pitch next week.

The Premier League table has made pretty interesting reading this season, what with Aston Villa and Chelsea threatening the end of the Big Four era and Tottenham stuck far too low down the standings for the comfort of their fans.

Sadly, the football itself is not providing the same level of drama.

A quick glance at the 2008/09 Player of the Year candidates shows the theme of this season rather nicely: defence.

Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic,  in fact pretty much anyone involved with defensive duties at Manchester United, might scoop this year’s award and good on them. But this accent on defensive excellence won’t be getting many pulses racing.

Nobody brags about their side’s fantastic clean sheet on Saturday. Supporters want to relive ‘that’ goal, that sublime attacking display that resulted in a 4-0 drubbing for some sorry team.

If that’s what you’re after, you may be better to switch over to the Spanish League and watch free-scoring Barcelona, because for all its twists and turns this season, Premier League sides have served up some awful matches.

There’s plenty to talk about as always, from Manchester City’s transfer targets to the arrival of Guus Hiddink at Chelsea and the endlessly quotable Rafa Benitez but I’d gladly swap it all for Cristiano Ronaldo’s goalscoring form of last season or a few more repeats of the only great match I can think of this season: Arsenal and Tottenham’s 4-4 draw.

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PHOTO: Nemanja Vidic celebrates after scoring against Japan’s Gamba Osaka during the FIFA Club World Cup semi-final in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, December 18, 2008. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

Hertha Berlin have found their way to the top of the Bundesliga table for the first time since October 2006 and given their long-suffering fans a faint whiff of championship hopes.

It’s been a very long time since Hertha’s last championship in 1931 and many years since their last Champions League appearance in 2000.

The amazing thing about Hertha’s stumble up to the top after their rather undeserved 2-1 victory over a dominant Bayern Munich on Saturday is that they’re really not very good. (As a closet Hertha fan I believe I’m qualified to concede that point).

Hertha, who have broken the hearts of their fans in past years with false pre-season promise, have underwhelmed many of their opponents this season yet often ended up, improbably, with the three points. (more…)

Nowhere in the world can match the San Siro for the array of banners unfurled by fans.

Before kick off in Sunday’s derby, the Inter and Milan ends were transformed into huge colourful patchworks and throughout the game various slogans were unveiled, some funny, some rude and some downright mysterious.

“How can you represent Milan when your team has no Italian players?” read one Milan banner (despite the fact that Inter’s teenaged left back Davide Santon is Italian).

The Milan fans in the ‘Curva Sud’ were so wrapped up in unfurling their masterpieces that many of them failed to notice that Adriano used a arm to score Inter’s first before the Serie A leaders went on to win 2-1 and increase their advantage over their city rivals to 11 points.

It looked like some Rossoneri supporters had already given up their title hopes when they unveiled a huge banner saying (in English): “To be continued…”

No one was quite sure what that implied but there was no confusion over the best Inter sign.

“The temperature is forecast to be -11 by 22.30.”

PHOTO: A typical banner during a Milan derby. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Like so often in the modern game, arranging international friendlies is much easier if you happen to be a big and powerful footballing nation.

While this week offered three lucrative and prestigious friendlies — Brazil-Italy, Spain-England and France-Argentina — smaller countries were left scratching around for opposition.

Paraguay, who despite playing at three successive World Cups seem unable to attract the promoters, ended up visiting Peru, a country they have already met twice in just over a year in World Cup qualifying matches. That followed a tortuous journey to Oman for a game last November.

In other games, Uruguay visited Libya while Colombia hosted Haiti.

Costa Rica, who beat Honduras 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday, often struggle to find friendly opponents.

They desperately want a fixture ahead of their visit to Mexico for another World Cup game at the end of March. The Mexicans, on the other hand, have already fixed up a game against Bolivia on March 11 in the United States, where they can be guaranteed a sizeable crowd of expatriates.

“It’s difficult, they ask me why Mexico can play Bolivia and we can’t,” Joseph Ramirez, general secretary of the Costa Rican federation, told local newspaper La Nacion.

“The difference is that they have the economic means and attract more people, the promoters don’t take us to play in the United States because there’s a risk the public will not go.

“We’re trying to bring a team from South America. It’s more practical to play here, some teams will accept to pay for their own tickets and we pay for the accommodation, and sometimes there are teams who will pay everything under the concept of solidarity.”

Another example of inequality in the modern game.

For more blogs on other sports than soccer, check out http://blogs.reuters.com/sport

PHOTO: Paraguay’s Enrique Vera (C) fights for the ball with Peru’s Paolo De la Haza during their friendly match in Lima Feb. 11, 2009. REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil