Dinosaurs

"The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be impossible. It's the biggest sin in football to make him do any work." George Graham. Stuff of bibilical porportions, sounds like it should be nestled right between the gospels of Genesis and Exodus or laying in the inspiring pages of the Qur'an or other ancient religious text. Ancient being the stand out word yet again the elders have come to the fore. My Reptilia inspired theme Dinosauria, sorry got a bit carried away with my Latin slash scientific classfication of the animal kingdom. Anyway the Dinosaurs have been reborn on the blog for the ignorant to the situation this segment features the profiles of players in the twillight of their careers with that. Forza Dinosauria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Name: Oswaldo Javier Sanchez Ibarra




D/O/H: 09/21/1973 (age 35)




Place of Hatching: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico




Position: Goalkeeper




Prefered Claw: Right




Height: 6;1/2 ft/inches




National Team: Mexico




Caps: 99




Club Teams: Atlas (1993/96), Club America (1996/99), Guadalajara (1999/2006), Santos Laguna (2007-present)

One is surely the lonliest number, this is not the case in the Goalkeeper graph. It's tough competing for that number one jersey think about it for a minute a squad is roughly around 25 players on average I don't know just speculating stats, there coming from me playing FIFA 09. So lets to the Math 25 guys on average they are three keepers and only one spot on the field for the keeper and one on the pine. Its not exactly fair the other positions are interchangable and you have a great chance of playing at some point the back up keeper gets lucky even to get five games in a season its not fun I would imagine, I can only imagine because back in the day yours truly was the prefered custodian between the sticks for which ever outfit I lined up for, the man above aint to bad himself, since I live in a shroud of secrecy his profiles will have to suffice it won't be to much of a let down trust me.

Oswaldo Javier Sanchez Ibarra was born on the 21st of September 1973 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. No matter how much I write that Mexican city I always am wary and stressed out by the number of times that one vowel appears but no harm done I hope. Oswaldo Sanchez started his professional career at the appropiately named Atlas club in Mexican first divison. He joined the strongmen of Atlas in 1993 where he was a freshed faced 20 year old he debuted against CD Veracruz in October of that year. To say that his Atlas career was a tad bit unfair is an understatement in fact the persistence of his bad luck is a current theme of his career. Play offs in various seasons followed at Atlas but also the reoccurring theme of failure. A loss to CD Veracruz marred his stay with the titan and his three year stay yielded 81 appearances in the goal slightly interupted my his time on the fresh pine. America being the land of oppurtunity offered young Sanchez a shot. Not the one with the bald eagle, slightly over weight population and the largest percent of people in the world named Frank, the one in Mexico Club America. Although to having an eagle the regal Mexican club swooped in for the custodian in 1996 where he spent three seasons with the side making 76 appearances but it all was for nought another baron three years in the Mexican top flight, three years of the old life chopped off and nothing to show for it and not getting any younger the Mexican migrated a joke to me had there, to Guadalajara a very familiar place to him so I've heard. In 1999 was the begining of the maturity of Oswaldo, 272 games and seven years will do that for you with two goals to boot two more than Nicklaus Bendtner, I really don't think he is that good sorry and I will make fun of him when ever I can so bear with it. Now back to an actual footballer, Sanchez was so loved by the Chivas faithful that he was bestoed the title of San Sanchez, for our Britania based toungues this translate to St. Sanchez that was the measure of the man at Chivas. There he won his first and only title yet again his luck abandoning him. After a lengthy spell with the club Sanchez became somewhat disenchanted with the "Goats," so he left in the summer of 2006 for worried Santos Laguna, a decision that angered the Guadalajara side. Hard times followed at his new home a relegation battle insued and by the grace of the football gods he steared his team away from limbo. Sanchez is to this day still with Santos, a quarterfinal appearance in the Mexican Clasura has been added to his somewhat lackluster resume' but his captaincy of the club may boost that but what must hurt the veteran goalie the most other than his lack of silverware is his current relationship with his former club Chivas de Guadalajara. In a 2008 Clasura match against Chivas his former club the fans that praised him so highly booed and heckled him with great verve. They showcased banners that said things that this blog can not possibly reprint, it was pretty nasty but what was funny and a bit extreme is that the Chivas fans threw money at their Judas that had his image on it chanting no longer a saint.

On the big stage of international football Oswaldo has shone as much as he can possibly. He made his debut for "El Tri," in 1996 since then he has been to three World Cups. The most sombre of which coming in Germany of 06 where tragically his father died, he flew back to play his last respects but ever the professional he flew back to help his countrymen to in their quest for a World Cup title but it all ended prematurely.Today Sanchez faces stiff competition from goalkeeping prodigy Guillermo Ochoa for that coveted position between the pipes the youngster wants to but the 99 caps to rest as well as his international career, will be interesting to see how Aguirre chooses his Mexican side and the battle between this ying and yang showdown between Sanchez's experience and Ochoa's hunger shall be interesting.

Sanchez I am personally disappointed in you. It is ok to homogeneous meaning in layman's term prefer to stay at home, the English are and more so the Italians but they can afford this because they are top footballing nations not like Mexico aren't but those nations have very powerful leagues while the Mexican league lets just say not on my top ten leagues to watch. He never in my opinion reached his full potential opting to stay at home to me hampered his development. He is good but is he world class? I really have to think about that, I know he had offers to move to stronger leagues but his mind set and to a degree laziness prevented him from doing so. Prehaps he likes being a not to sound cliche' a BIG FISH IN A SMALL POND, if that is the case I pity him I may have my detractors for this statement but to me Europe is the Holy Grail of football and to not aspire to set foot there to me is a sin. Oswaldo you to me have committed one of Dante's Seven Deadly Sins which is Sloth google Dante it is scary but Oswaldo your vice will condemn you to mediocrity or is there time for you to see the promise land at 35 time is against you.

Reptile