No wonder Sir Alex Ferguson admires him so much. Igor Akinfeev may have conceded three goals – though none of them was his fault – but he had pulled off a number of world-class saves which had frustrated Manchester United.

He is only 23, but he has been first choice ‘keeper at CSKA Moscow for six years now, and was just 17 when he broke into the Russian side making him the youngest ever. That is a surprise, but Akinfeev is a gifted goalkeeper and who knows how long he will stay on at CSKA now? “He’s got courage,” said CSKA’s goalkeeping coach Vyacheslav Chanov. “He doesn’t get nervous. His main strength is his confidence, which transmits itself to his team-mates. It’s very rare for him to make a mistake in positioning.”

His future at the Russian club will always be in doubt. He has quality, and though he is not tall, he makes that up with his other abilities such as his shot stopping, or positioning. On some of the matches I’ve seen on him, he looks well composed in goal and his decision making isn’t a problem. Right now, though I believe United’s current goalkeepers are good enough, their problem is that their decision making is, well, poor. Ben Foster is an example of this, but he is still a good ‘keeper and that’s something he will have to work on.

It is unlikely that Manchester United will sign him. After denying Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen with saves you would only associate with the Buffon’s or the Schmeichel’s, Sir Alex ruled out any chance of signing him, but did recognize the talent in which he called the Russian, who has well over 150 caps for his club, ‘outstanding’.

“We wouldn’t be interested, but I have to say he is a fantastic goalkeeper. He is athletic, with a powerful build, and his distribution his good. He really saved CSKA from a big defeat against us. He made one very good save in the first half and four I think in the second half. He was outstanding.”

You have to agree on Sir Alex there. Right now, Man United have a top goalkeeper in Van der Sar already, and when he retires has too good ‘keeper’s in Kuszczak and Foster. But the talent is there. Long before the season had even started, he has been linked to a number of big clubs such as United and it very clear why. He will easily break into England’s squad because he is a gifted player, a natural if you like. If he can continue such progress then he can become a Buffon or a Schmeichel.