COSTA RICA SPORTS NEWS – Back-up Netherlands goalkeeper Tim Krul became an unlikely hero when he came into the World Cup quarter-final match against Costa Rica on Saturday, in the 120th minute and promptly won the penalty shootout.
He was also the target of criticism for his “antics” during the shootout.
Before the Costa Rican players took their penalty kicks, Krul walked up to them and tried to psych them out, “to get into their heads.”
“I told them I knew where they were going because I had analyzed it. It worked,” he explained to the BBC on Sunday.
But he said: “I don’t think I did anything wrong. I did nothing crazy. I didn’t shout in an aggressive manner.”
Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal said he substituted Jasper Cillessen with seconds of extra time remaining because of Krul’s greater height and reach.
Cillessen, who kicked a water bottle as he came off, said: “I didn’t know it was going to happen, so I was angry. I wanted to play the penalty shootout. It is a pity I wasn’t told before, but it worked very well.”
Ajax goalkeeper Cillessen, 25, is expected to start Wednesday’s semi-final against Argentina, but Krul is drawing up a plan to deal with Lionel Messi and co if he is called into action again.
“We will analyze every Argentina penalty on Monday,” added Krul. “We will sit together and write up a plan.”
Dutch defender Ron Vlaar, who plays his club football for Aston Villa, is a doubt for the game because of a knee problem.
It was clear from Krul’s body language that he’s an arrogant asshat. His approaching Costa Rica’s players should have earned him a yellow card. He obviously isn’t the most skilled goalkeeper in the World Cup, or even on his team. His greatest asset is the fact that he is freakishly large, so his body can cover most of the goal. If Costa Rica’s more skilled goalkeeper had the same reach, he would have easily saved one of the goals scored in the shoot-off.
The Dutch did outplay Costa Rica in the match, so they deserve the win; however, it is a shame that people will attribute the loss to Costa Rica’s goalkeeper, who kept his team in the game for 120 minutes. It would be a miracle for either Costa Rica or the Netherlands to knock off Argentina. I’d almost prefer that the Dutch will have the misfortune of being destroyed by Argentina. The real shame is that Argentina isn’t starting Krul to suffer that humiliation.