🇳🇱 Remember Tim Krul? 2014 World Cup hero hangs up his boots | OneFootball

The 2014 World Cup was not marked only by the historic 7-1 defeat suffered by the Brazilian National Team.

The then goalkeeper Tim Krul was, for example, one of the many characters of that World Cup.

And, at 37 years old, he retired from being an athlete this Tuesday (23).

His last club was Luton Town, which plays in League One, the English third division.

Before that, he had long spells at Newcastle and Norwich.

A Substitution for the History Books

Then a backup to Cillessen in the Netherlands national team, he was brought on in the final minutes of extra time against the surprising Costa Rica at Arena Fonte Nova.

A change made by Louis van Gaal that drew a lot of attention.

📸 Michael Steele - 2014 Getty Images

Tim Krul made all the difference, as he saved the penalty kicks from Bryan Ruiz and Umãna, his teammates didn’t miss, and the spot in the semifinals came with a 4-3 victory.

📸 Jamie McDonald - 2014 Getty Images

The match against the tournament’s dark horse – who topped a group that also included Uruguay and the eliminated England and Italy – was Krul’s ONLY appearance in the World Cup.

The semifinal against Argentina was also decided by penalties.

But without Krul in action. The third and last substitution was Huntelaar for Van Persie in the 96th minute.

The semi ended with Argentina winning 4-2 and later finishing as runners-up.

The “consolation prize” was a 3-0 win in the third-place match against Brazil.

Krul was tipped to play in the 2022 World Cup – the Netherlands missed out in 2018 – but was ultimately left out.

At the time, Louis van Gaal – once again the national team coach – explained the goalkeeper’s absence from the final list by saying he had refused to participate in a specific penalty-saving training activity.

He played 15 matches in total for the Netherlands between 2011 and 2022.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 RONALDO SCHEMIDT