United front for Dutch goal keepers
It was, joked Tim Krul, kind of a MasterCard advert moment.
Representing your country at a World Cup? Gotta be worth $1 million, at least. Subbing in during a quarter-final match headed to penalties ... $2 million, bare minimum.
And the astonished gawk plastered on Costa Rica boss Jorge Luis Pinto’s kisser as his side and the Dutch trooped off to penalties Saturday night in Salvador?
“To see their manager’s face when I came on,” Krul recalled in delight. “He was looking over to our manager. His face was ... “Priceless.” The afternoon following the remarkable penalty shootout, the victorious Dutch held a media availability at their home base here, the Flamengo club grounds, featuring goalkeepers Krul and Jasper Cillessen, the two most famous men in the Netherlands at the moment.
Wily old plotter Louis van Gaal substituted Krul, who had yet to log a minute at this tournament, in for Cillessen just before the 30-minute extra time had evaporated, catching everyone — except Krul, who’d been forewarned of the possibility — completely off guard.
“I think definitely it had an impact,” said Krul. “When I started my warm-up their whole bench was kind of confused about what was going on.” They weren’t the only ones. Van Gaal’s gamble paid off handsomely though, Krul stopping two spot kicks as the dominant Dutch narrowly avoided an undeserved defeat and set up a semifinal date with Argentina.
Sunday’s availability was, like most every Netherlands media conference, a jovial affair, with the two ‘keepers obviously put on display to show the world a united front and quash any speculation about the starter being in a snit over his removal.
“I didn’t know about it,” admitted Cillessen, who did throw a tiny temper tantrum immediately following the switch. “It was a big surprise. Obviously I want to play all the time. I wanted to play in the penalty shootout, too, but the coach made a decision and I have to accept it.”
Krul, meanwhile, may be an all-conquering hero back home but the Newcastle United shotstopper is already coming in for a fair bit of stick in other locales over perceived poor sportsmanship for yammering away at each Costa Rican penalty-taker approaching the spot.
He brushed those accusations aside as easily as he had the penalty tries from Bryan Ruiz and Michael Omana. “I didn’t do anything crazy. I wasn’t shouting in an aggressive manner. I just told them I knew where they were going, as I’ve been analyzing the penalties. Obviously they’re under massive pressure. I’m under massive pressure. So I use everything in my power to get an advantage.
“I’m trying to get in their heads and obviously it worked.”
The two ‘keepers were certainly relaxed in the informal media setting and showed every sign of cohesion.
Tellingly, the man replaced was among the first to storm the pitch at Arena Fonte Nova and congratulate his replacement after the penalty heroics.
“We’ve got 23 players who want to play,” said Krul. “I’ve been training day in and day out to prove myself to the manager. But the manager chose Jasper.
“So I keep training the way I’ve been doing. I’m really pleased the manager showed confidence in me to put me in the quarter-final.