Craig Gordon Biography
Craig Gordon is the Scottish international who currently plays for Sunderland in the Premier League. He is regarded as one of the finest goalkeepers to hail from Scotland in recent years. His excellence in the goalkeeping department has led him to be nominated in the Greatest Ever Football Team for Scotland.
Craig Gordon supported Hearts of Midlothian when he was an youngster and it was not surprising that he decided to start his career with the Scottish team. He signed for Hearts of Midlothian in 2000 and it did not take long for his talent to get noticed within the ranks. He made his debut in 2002 against Livingston. The impressive performances soon led him to get the PFA Young Player of the Year award a year later.
He became an instrumental part of the Hearts side that came second in the Scottish Premier League and won the Scottish Cup. It was at this time that Craig Gordon became a first team regular for Hearts of Midlothian. The success in the 2005 season was followed by a number of performances, which drew attention from major clubs in Europe.
During the final part of the 2005-06 season, Craig Gordon was linked with a number of clubs mainly from England. The incredible performance in the 1-0 win over France also played a major role in making Craig Gordon one of the transfer targets for major clubs across Europe. The intensive transfer speculation mounted upon Craig Gordon after he was left out of the squad that was set to face Rangers. However, the transfer at the end of the January transfer window did not materialise and Craig Gordon continued to represent Hearts.
However, his departure was becoming inevitable after many clubs including Arsenal were interested in signing him, which led to Craig Gordon making a statement that he would like to play for Arsenal. But, it was Sunderland who finally managed to agree a fee with Hearts for the young goalkeeper. Sunderland agreed a fee of around £ 7 million, with further £ 3 million coming in incentives. It was at that time, one of the highest transfer fees paid for a goalkeeper.
Craig Gordon’s debut match for Sunderland came in the 1-0 win over Tottenham on the opening day of the 2007-08 Premier League season. However, poor form in the subsequent matches meant that Craig Gordon was dropped from the squad briefly. A groin injury kept him out for most of the 2009-10 season, but he returned to first team action in the following season.
Craig Gordon suffered another major injury during the end of the 2010-11 season, which led to rumours linking him with a return to Scotland. Craig Gordon made his international debut for Scotland in 2004. Since then, he has played 40 matches for Scotland.
Throughout his career, Craig Gordon has managed to lift one major trophy – Scottish Cup with Hearts in 2006. Some of the greatest goalkeepers like Buffon have praised the ability of Craig Gordon.
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October 20, 2011 11:57 am