Player of the Week - Tim Krul

Penalty Hero!

The Netherlands moved into the semi-finals of Brazil 2014 after a penalty shoot-out victory against Costa Rica in Salvador. The Costa Ricans, who had never qualified for the quarter-finals before, have been the World Cup's surprise team with Arsenal's Joel Campbell and Fulham's Bryan Ruiz playing fantastically well. But after 120 minutes without a goal, it was the introduction of goalkeeper, Tim Krul, who changed the game. The match was in the final minute of extra-time when Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, decided to make his final substitution. He changed his goalkeeper! Newcastle United goalkeeper, Krul, was brought on the pitch for the penalty shoot-out, but his first touch of the ball was to pick the ball out of the net after Costa Rica were successful with their first penalty. But Krul saved 2 of the Costa Rican penalties and was the hero as the Netherlands progressed to a semi-final against Argentina.

"The substitution worked out. It was beautiful. I'm a bit proud of that."  Louis van Gaal (Netherlands coach and Manchester United manager).

Is Tim Krul the first goalkeeper substitute brought on just for a penalty shoot-out?

Tim Krul is the only goalkeeper in World Cup history to be brought on the pitch just for a penalty shoot-out, but there are some examples from English football where something similar has happened. In 1996, Leicester City and Crystal Palace were a few minutes away from a penalty shoot-out in the play-off final, which is the match that decides the final team to be promoted to the Premier League. Leicester City manager, Martin O'Neill, brought on Australian keeper, Zeljko Kalac, who was a penalty kick specialist and over 2 metres tall, but in the final minute Leicester City scored to win promotion to the Premier League and Zalac never got his chance in the shoot-out. In 2000, Leicester City beat Arsenal in a penalty shoot-out in the FA Cup. During extra-time, Leicester's goalkeeper, Tim Flowers, was injured and replaced by Peggy Arphexad, who saved two penalties to send Leicester into the next round.

What did the experts think to van Gaal's decision?

After the match everybody was speaking about Louis van Gaal's decision to substitute his goalkeeper. Was it genius? Was it madness? Or was it evidence of planning for every detail? Here are a selection of quotes about the decision:

"What a performance, and what a piece of management by Louis van Gaal. We said he would live or die by that decision, well he lives and he lives into the semi-finals." Joachim Löw (Gary Lineker, BBC commentator and top-scorer in the 1986 World Cup)

"Manchester United fans will be buzzing to see Louis van Gaal making big decisions like that and them coming off. They will be thinking, 'what a manager we have got coming in'." (Rio Ferdinand, BBC commentator and ex-Man Utd defender)

"Big managers have to make big calls in big games, and that was a huge call by Van Gaal. He has got all the big decisions right at this World Cup." (Alan Shearer, BBC commentator and ex-Newcastle striker)

What do we know about Tim Krul?

Tim Krul was born in The Hague in the Netherlands on 3 April 1988. Newcastle United is Krul's first professional club, after signing for 'The Magpies' in 2005. He has made over 100 appearances for Newcastle and last season won a Premier League Player of the Month award (November 2013), and was the only goalkeeper to win this award last season. Krul is seen as one of the Premier League's most talented and consistent goalkeepers. Krul made his international debut for the Netherlands in June 2011 in a 0-0 draw against Brazil, he made a number of fantastic saves and kept a clean sheet. His second match was against Uruguay, which ended in defeat in a penalty shoot-out!

Can Krul help the Netherlands to win the World Cup in Brazil?

What did you understand?

Did you know......?

• Tim Krul has only saved 2 penalties out of 20 he has faced for Newcastle United.
• Before each penalty, Krul told the Costa Rican players he knew which way they were going to kick the ball.
• There are 2 Premier League goalkeepers in the Dutch World Cup squad, the other is Swansea City's Michel Vorm.
• Newcastle Utd's new signing, Siem de Jong is also Dutch.
• Newcastle legend, Alan Shearer is the Premier League's all-time top-scorer, with 260 goals.