Manchester United goalkeepers share a misfortune with the men who stand between the posts for Brazil - the rest of the team is so good, nobody notices them much.
They tend to be an after-thought, something of an inconvenient necessity for teams built around the beauty of brilliant attacking football.
United don't usually do careful, prudent and tight at the back. They do swashbuckling and cavalier. If the other lot score three, they don't care. They just score four.
At Old Trafford, Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Ryan Giggs are the idols of the crowd. There, more than anywhere, it is about the men who score the goals, not the man who stops them.
So as he has smashed a series of records for frustrating opposition forwards in the last couple of weeks, it seems to have come as a surprise to a lot of people that Edwin van der Sar is actually rather good.
Even in the midst of Sir Alex Ferguson's tribute to the Dutchman after he kept yet another clean sheet against West Ham yesterday, the United boss was at pains to point out that his side were not just relying on their defence to win matches.
"The clean sheets have become a topic of conversation," Ferguson said with the merest hint of irritation. "But it does not change the emphasis of our game.
"The record is a great motivation for the players, particularly Edwin. He has everyone jumping out of their skin at the moment because of it.
"When you have that foundation, you are always hoping one of your skilful players can win the game for you." Yesterday was typical United. Van der Sar did not have much to do. He made one good save from Carlton Cole early in the game when Cole tried to chip him but apart from that, it was strictly routine.
Still, Van der Sar and United are on such a remarkable run of refusing to yield a goal that it has become impossible to ignore the keeper's excellence.
His clean sheet at Upton Park meant that he has now gone 20 hours and 12 minutes without conceding a goal in league football.
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That beat a British league record held by Bobby Clark of Aberdeen, who went 1,155 minutes without letting one in in the Scottish First Division 38 years ago.
He is now chasing the world record of 1,275 minutes held by Abel Renso of Atletico Madrid. And it means that United have not conceded a goal to Premier League opposition since November 8 when two goals from Arsenal's Samir Nasri beat them at the Emirates. Van der Sar has kept 13 consecutive clean sheets. Others deserve credit too, but as the personnel in United's back four has changed again and again because of injury this season, Van der Sar has been the constant.
Perhaps it has taken him longer to get the credit he deserves because there is nothing spectacular or flashy about his game. He does not do star jumps like Peter Schmeichel.
Even when he won the Champions League Final for United last May by saving Nicolas Anelka's penalty in the shoot-out, it was John Terry's miss that everyone remembered.
Schmeichel was the last great United keeper and his extrovert personality meant he got plenty of attention. Van der Sar doesn't have that kind of personality.
In Holland, he is known as the Ice Rabbit because of his ears and his cool temperament.
Still, after the unwanted dramas that dogged Schmeichel's successors - Mark Bosnich, Massimo Taibi, Fabien Barthez, Roy Carroll and Tim Howard - Van der Sar's unflappable style has come as a blessed relief.
He is the ultimate team player and he did not stray from the script yesterday. When he was asked what the secret of his remarkable run was, his reply was simple. "Hard work from everybody," he said.
"These are beautiful times but enjoy it? I'll enjoy myself in the summer holiday. That's the only time I can relax. I'm so proud, of course, but I don't want the attention to go to me alone.
"If you consider the number of injuries United have had in defence, the focus should be on more than me. The clean sheets are because of our squad."
He is right about that. Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand have both had an outstanding season in central defence where their partnership is getting stronger and stronger.
But Van der Sar deserves these moments in the sun.
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