SALVADOR, Brazil -- Louis van Gaal made the call, and Tim Krul made the saves.
In another move that will only add to his reputation as a tactical mastermind, the Netherlands coach led his team into the World Cup semifinals after bringing on Krul with seconds remaining in extra time.
Moments later, Krul saved two penalties in a 4-3 shootout victory over Costa Rica, making the Manchester United-bound Van Gaal again look like a football genius.
"It worked out," Van Gaal said Saturday after his team played Costa Rica to a 0-0 draw through extra time. "That was beautiful. I'm a bit proud of that."
Jasper Cillessen had started in goal for the Dutch team, but Van Gaal made the decision to pull him after 120 minutes of scoreless football and replace him with Krul.
The Newcastle goalkeeper, who really only touched the ball twice all game, saved the second and fifth penalties, and guessed the correct way on all five.
"We thought it all through," Van Gaal said. "We all thought that Tim Krul was the best keeper to stop penalties. He is taller and has a longer reach. We prepared for the Costa Rica penalties just as we prepared for our own penalties."
In the semifinals, the Netherlands will face Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.
Krul made the decisive stops in the shootout, but it was Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas who was the star of the match.
Navas made a string of saves to keep the attacking Dutch scoreless for 90 minutes of regulation time and 30 minutes of extra time.
His night, however, will forever be overshadowed by Krul, and by Van Gaal.
"I never saw something like that," Costa Rica midfielder Celso Borges said of the goalkeeping change. "But they were right, he did his job."
Van Gaal has made several inspired changes at this year's World Cup in the team's five consecutive victories. He brought on Klaas Jan Huntelaar against Mexico and the Schalke striker had an assist and scored a stoppage-time penalty to win 2-1.
Against Chile, midfielder Leroy Fer scored within a minute of coming on to break a 0-0 deadlock. Another substitute, Memphis Depay, scored the second in the 2-0 victory.
On Saturday, Navas had kept his team in the match with some excellent saves. And when Wesley Sneijder twice beat him late in regulation and again in the second half of extra time, the woodwork made the stop.
Sneijder hit the post with a free kick in the 80th minute and then sent a curling shot over Navas and off the crossbar before the penalty shootout.
At the end, however, Navas could not stop any of the four Dutch penalties as veterans Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben, Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt all scored.
"Of course you want to stop the penalty," Navas said. "But they shot better and I could not stop them."
Navas couldn't, but Krul could.
"Tim stopped two penalties," Van Gaal said, "and it doesn't get better than that."
On Saturday, on the same ground where van Persie’s spectacular diving header earned him the nickname the Flying Dutchman, the Netherlands striker fell flat.
Van Persie missed two chances from close range in stoppage time.
“Those misses could have been very costly,” Van Persie said. “But our win is all that matters now.”
One of those chances was heart stopping.
The ball was crossed from the left, two Dutch players failed to get to it, and it fell to Van Persie close to the back post. He shot, but the ball hit a Costa Rican defender on the goal line, ricocheted from the crossbar and bounced out.
“It’s bizarre,” Van Persie said. “We had too many chances. You have to stay strong and focused in such circumstances. We had to work hard to win this game.”
While Van Persie sputtered, teammate Arjen Robben was a constant threat against a dogged Costa Rica squad as he left behind a diving controversy surrounding the Netherlands’ second-round victory over Mexico.
“I don’t know how many opportunities we had in the game, but that goes to show that scoring a goal is crucial in the game of football,” Van Gaal said. “If you miss so many opportunities, the opponent could walk away and beat you, out of nowhere.”
Sports on 07/06/2014