Louis van Gaal produced arguably the greatest penalty shootout call in World Cup history.
The Netherlands coach also led his country during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. It was the quarter-finals. Costa Rica were holding them to a goalless draw when, in the first minute of injury time at the end of the second half of extra time, Van Gaal substituted his goalkeeper.
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Off came Jasper Cillessen, who had played (and went on to play) every minute of the Netherlands’ tournament in regular time. Cillessen was first choice. He had also been given no prior warning to what Van Gaal was thinking.
Cillessen came off without complaint, but still looked up at the board with his number on it when he reached the touchline; just to check his eyes were not deceiving him. His face carried a wry smile.
On July 5, 2014, Tim Krul was subbed in for the penalty shootout and came up with two massive saves for the Netherlands to put an end to Costa Rica’s Cinderella run in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals 🇳🇱🧤 pic.twitter.com/U5B1jVAtb0
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 5, 2022
🇳🇱 A Dutch #WorldCup penalty hero turns 3⃣2⃣ today 🧤
🎂 Happy birthday, Tim Krul! 🥳
🎥 Relive this amazing shootout and the wider story of an incredible tournament in the official Brazil 2014 film 👉 https://t.co/866jSeC0eQ#HBD | @TimKrul | @OnsOranje pic.twitter.com/vYGBBeJz5g
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) April 3, 2020
On came Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul with a high-five and a jog. His first action in the game would be to face the first penalty of the shootout.
In the previous nine World Cup shootouts, the team that had gone first had also gone through. Costa Rica reached the quarter-finals off the back of a last-16 shootout success against Greece; at the same point, the USMNT were knocked out in extra time by Belgium. Their tails were already up.
Celso Borges scored that opening penalty; Krul dived the right way but a little too late. He then saved their second spot kick, taken by Bryan Ruiz, with Cillessen celebrating it as much as anyone.
Krul dived the right way for the next two penalties, which proved to be just out of reach. However, with Michael Umana needing to score, Krul produced his best save of the lot – a strong left hand to turn the shot around the post and send the Netherlands through.
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It was only their second success in six major tournament shootouts. Krul was mobbed by his team-mates, with Cillessen among the first on the scene.
The substitution is still counted among the great World Cup moments.
“It’s a matter of thinking logically and since you are allowed to select three keepers, then you ought to select one on the grounds that he’s saved loads of penalties,” Van Gaal told FIFA recently, reflecting on that moment.
“I also don’t want keepers taking a gamble. If the ball is going left and he is going right, I get very angry. In my opinion, you need to react. That’s what I built on.”
It was Netherlands goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek who suggested to Van Gaal that Krul should be brought on just before any shootout, due to what he had seen from working with the squad’s goalkeepers.
Hoek told Krul discreetly while he was waiting on the team bus to leave for the Costa Rica game. Even the sight of Krul completing lots of warm-ups and stretches during the game did little to raise an eyebrow with his team-mates sitting on the bench, who remained oblivious to what might take place.
“They were looking at me going, what are you doing? Just sit down,” smiled Krul, who has enjoyed other penalty shootout successes since his exploits with the Netherlands.
“It’s getting the feeling, getting into the moment and following your instinct. You can be a hero in the 10 minutes you are out there.”
It was not entirely about Krul’s penalty-saving abilities at that point, however. The third goalkeeper in Van Gaal’s squad, Michel Vorm, actually had a better record from 12 yards than Krul.
Rather, it was about the other elements Krul could bring to such a high-pressure situation — all elements that Hoek had been working on with his goalkeeping group ahead of the 2014 World Cup.
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“When we came together with the national team, the three goalkeepers were more or less at the same level in stopping penalties. And that level was low,” Hoek told The Athletic in 2020. “We decided to do things in a different way and when you do that you have to believe in it, practise it and then show it.”
Hoek’s method came from his own playing career as a goalkeeper, which included a spell as his team’s penalty-taker.
“The longer I had to wait, the more I started to think. What if I miss? I have to run back in goal. We lose the game,” said Hoek. “Not everyone gets affected like that but from that point on as a goalkeeper, I started to think about the taker.
“I made sure I had the ball. I tried to make the time from the penalty being given to it being taken as long as possible. I’d speak to the referee about whether he was sure it was a penalty. Then I’d ask him to give me the time to concentrate so I had a fair chance of saving it. I might give the ball to the referee or to the taker so I could look him in the eye.
“Don’t gamble. Goalkeepers think it’s a 50-50 chance but it’s less than that because the ball can also go in the middle. Even if you go to the right side, there’s no guarantee you will reach it. Wait, be confident, then react. If the penalty is not perfect, you have a bigger chance.
“If a goalie goes early, no one says anything bad because you are always a winner in penalties. But you can be a bigger winner if you have a different strategy.”
Krul showed he had the best combination of temperament, imposing nature and ability for penalties during training in the lead-up to the 2014 tournament. When it came to the real thing, he then delivered the playbook.
He engaged with the penalty taker at the penalty spot, shouted and chose words to provoke a response — even if it was internal — and took his time getting set on his line. There were long walks around the penalty area, rattles of the crossbar and generally trying to look as big — and make the goal look as small — as possible. Intimidating prowling and disconcerting smiling in equal measure.
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It did the trick.
Van Gaal is in charge once again and Hoek is his goalkeeping coach at this World Cup, too.
With limited build-up to this tournament due to it being held in the middle of most European domestic seasons, the Netherlands wanted to assess all their goalkeeping options for shootouts during the October international break.
Krul, now a Norwich City player, did not receive a call-up to join the initial squad and according to Van Gaal, then declined an invitation to join in for tests to see who would represent the best options as a shootout keeper.
Techniques have also evolved in the eight years since 2014.
Rather than taking penalties in the hope a goalkeeper dives the wrong way, many elite penalty-takers are refining methods that wait for the goalkeeper to commit first — allowing them to convert in the opposite direction or with the confidence the keeper will not be able to reach it.
The best purveyors of that goalkeeper-dependent technique include Italy and Chelsea midfielder Jorginho, Poland and Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, and Brentford forward Ivan Toney.
It will be interesting to see who produces different techniques in shootouts at this World Cup and how it may affect Van Gaal’s previous beliefs about his goalkeeper choices.
