TIM KRUL insists his FA Cup penalty heroics at Tottenham were not all down to bottle.
The Norwich keeper saved two spot kicks in Wednesday’s shootout to book the Canaries a quarter-final place – after his coach wrote all the details of the Spurs takers on his water bottle.
Tim Krul has revealed all about his penalty shootout heroicsCredit: Getty
He said: “My goalie coach prepares me before every match and he gave me a bottle with all the details on.
“But I started mixing up the players and there was one point when I thought Gedson Fernandes was taking two penalties.”
Krul, 31, saved spot-kicks from Fernandes and Troy Parrott, after Erik Lamela had hit the bar, to give Norwich a 3-2 win on pens after the fifth-round tie was deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time.
The Dutch keeper has a reputation for saving pens after he was sent on a sub in the final minute of extra time in his country’s 2014 World Cup quarter-final against Costa Rica.
He then helped book the Netherlands a semi-final place by saving two spot kicks in the shootout.
After thwarting Tottenham, Krul – whose heroics were overshadowed by Eric Dier’s row with a fan in the stands afterwards – said: “It is hard work and requires some homework but when the moment comes maybe it’s my experience.
“I’ve faced a few penalties in my career and I just see when one person is more nervous than another, who is more comfortable.
“Of course in the end of you need a little bit of luck as well.
“I prepared before the game and got the clips. And even just before the shootout got some more clips and did some more homework.
“But when the moment is there, like Erik Lamela changed from his normal side and luckily enough it went off the crossbar. Normally he goes the other way.”
Krul admitted psychology plays a large part in the win too, saying: “I look at the player. Who is comfortable, who is confident?
“With the young lad Parrott, I played a little bit with his head as well. I just said: ‘I haven’t seen many penalties from you on my homework’ and he was looking at me.
“To be honest, I hadn’t seen any of his penalties.
“This is when you have to forget everything and go back to what you’ve learned and from your experience.
“Frans Hoek who was with me at the World Cup in Brazil is a specialist in it. He used to say ‘Just wait on the line and react to the shot’ and that’s what I did for that one.”
Jose Mourinho has never won a penalty shootout in England
Krul insists the pressure is not only on the taker, though.
He said: “There’s pressure for me as well. When Tottenham’s first one went in I was saying to myself, ‘You’ve got a name for saving penalties so you’d better start saving some’.
“But the pressure was on them, in front of their own fans, it was huge for them. I played on that.”
Tim Krul runs the length of the pitch after Norwich beat Spurs on penalties in the FA Cup
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
