HE’S hailed as one of the world’s greatest ever goalkeepers.
And now Peter Shilton – 125 caps for England and two European Cups with Nottingham Forest – says Shay Given has quite a career ahead of him.
In fact Shilton says that Given (aged 36) is a spring chicken.
He was speaking an interview with joe.ie about the Lifford man’s performances in Poland in Euro 2012.
“Shay is a great goalkeeper and has great technique, but when a team is struggling that obviously doesn’t help as well,” Shilton said.
“It’s fair to say he didn’t have the best of times, but it’s a team effort and you need to have players in front of you to perform as well.
“I think he’s been a world-class keeper for a long time now…What age did you say he was again?” asks Shilton.
“36…” said joe.ie
“Ah well, he’s still a spring chicken really! I played in Italia ’90 when I was almost 41! He’s quite a reasonable age for a ‘keeper so as long as he avoids injuries you’d think he’d be able to play on for a few more years yet.”
Before retiring Shilton cautions Given against making any rash decisions based on the disappointment at what happened in Poland.
“Obviously he’s thinking about the European Championships and that’s putting pressure on to decide if he retires or not, but I think he’s still young enough to play on for another couple of years,” he said.
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