It was all about an inspired goalkeeper. He was producing the performance of his life. Then, suddenly, it was about another. The Keylor Navas show was taken off air. Tim Krul displaced him from the schedule and denied Costa Rica a sequel to their shootout glory against Greece.
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Krul’s cameo served as confirmation of Louis van Gaal’s Midas touch. The Dutch coach can seemingly do no wrong at the moment. He is a man of many formations and has veered between 5-3-2 to 4-3-3. When his 3-4-3 didn’t produce a breakthrough, he added another attacker. Then came the leftfield move: he changed goalkeeper for the shootout. Normally when Van Gaal’s substitutes make an impact, they scored. This one saved. Twice.
Off went Jasper Cillessen, who had played the previous 118 minutes. On came Krul, whose stops from Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana were decidedly cruel for Costa Rica. So close to a maiden semi-final appearance, they were eliminated as Netherlands, so poor at penalty shootouts for so long, were perfect from 12 yards.
They needed to be. There was no way through beforehand. Navas was magnificent. The Costa Rica keeper offered further evidence of his supreme athleticism. His ability to repel low shots with his legs is testament to his positioning and reflexes alike.
While he relied on his woodwork to keep out first Wesley Sneijder’s free kick and then his long-range shot, this was no one-man rearguard action. Most remarkably, Yeltsin Tejada contrived to deflect the ball off the line on to the bar, deep into stoppage time, to prevent Robin van Persie from scoring a winner.
The reality, though, is that much of Costa Rica’s defending has not been so dramatic. It is the result of their remarkable efficiency. Their goal has only been breached once in 510 minutes in open play in this tournament and if they led a charmed life at times, they are entitled to argue they made their own luck.
Even the absence of the suspended Oscar Duarte did not disrupt their sense of harmony. The three centre-backs play their club football for Alajuelense, Columbus Crew and Saprissa, none exactly a giant of the global game. It is easy to see why Costa Rica were underestimated but, ever since they beat Uruguay in their opening game, they have continued to prove it was not a one-off.
They, indeed, could have averted the need for penalties. Marcos Urena darted clear deep into extra time. Cillessen denied him. His reward? To be substituted. On came Krul, and out went Costa Rica. Van Gaal, once again, had come up trumps.
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