A winning bet from coach van Gaal. The Dutch goalkeeper had dived five times to the right side and stopped two Costa Rican attempts. Questioned by the newspaper l’Equipe, the 37-year-old newly retired returned to this epic and legendary session.
“The day before the match, the goalkeeping coach, Frans Hoek, brought the three of us together (with Jasper Cillessen, number 1, and Michel Vorm, number 3) to do our “homework”, a video and statistical analysis of the opponent. He asked us: “Who has ever taken part in penalty shootouts? »I immediately raised my hand to say that I had stopped an attempt by Lampard and that I had participated in two sessions when I first started for the national team (in 2011). Cillessen, who is a little shorter than me (1.87 m, compared to 1.93 m), did not stop any penalties in training,” he said at first.
Before continuing: “ The next day, we were at the bar watching the other quarter-final (Argentina-Belgium, 1-0) when Frans approached to speak to me in a low voice: “You are in good shape, you are impressive in training and we are saying to ourselves that if it goes to penalties, we could replace Jasper…” I told myself that it was just a way of maintaining my motivation but he clarified: “Go study the shooters on your computer but, above all, don’t say anything to anyone. It has to stay between you, the manager (Louis van Gaal) and me. »
