Seaman sets landmark with 1,000th top-flight game

ARSENAL goalkeeper David Seaman is poised to answer the critics who insisted his top-flight career was over after the World Cup by passing a landmark of 1,000 first-team appearances this weekend.

Seaman has now taken part in 999 first-team games for club and country, and will become only the third English player after Tony Ford and Peter Shilton to reach the millennium mark at Blackburn tomorrow.

Following his high-profile mishap against Brazil in the World Cup quarter-finals, followed by further mistakes against the likes of Macedonia and Bolton, it had looked as though this season could be Seaman's last at the top level.

Several critics insisted the 39-year-old should have played his final international game for his country last summer, as time seemed to be catching up with his body.

However, Seaman has battled on and will now decide at the end of this season, just a few months short of his 40th birthday, whether to continue playing at the top level for another year.

Either way, reaching the 1,000-appearance milestone for both club and country will represent a significant achievement for the England international.

"I'm 39 now and I've been a number one since I was 19, so I know that I've clocked up quite a few appearances. It will be a great landmark to reach," he told the Arsenal official programme.

"I knew it was close and I've heard it mentioned a few times, but it's not the sort of thing that I go home and make a note of after every game."

Seaman, who was awarded the MBE in 1996, has won 75 England caps, having made his international debut against Saudi Arabia in November 1988.

Despite his high-profile slip-ups in the World Cup and subsequent error against Macedonia, tournaments, he remains Sven-Goran Eriksson's first-choice keeper for competitive games.

Having previouslyAfter periods spent playing for Leeds, Peterborough, Birmingham and QPR, Seaman joined Arsenal in 1990 and has since won three titles, as well as three FA Cups, one Coca-Cola Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Arsene Wenger nevertheless came close to signing Marcos during the January transfer window, and will sign either the Brazil international or another top-class keeper this summer.

That is expected to put pressure on Seaman to take up the club's offer of becoming the Highbury goalkeeping coach, but Wenger insists that his experienced keeper is not finished just yet.

"David's had a great season. He started off under a lot of public criticism but he has kept everyone quiet and that shows how well he's done as people were ready to slaughter him," said the Arsenal boss recently.

"He's the kind of guy who, when his back is to the wall, puts that extra amount in. I also believe he sees this team can win again and that is highly motivating for him.

"He is in very good condition. His physical tests are even better now than they were in 1999, for example."