FIFA World Cup 2014: Krul, one of a kind goalie

Salvador: Goalkeeper Tim Krul called it a “dream come true” Saturday after he was boldly brought on as a penalty-kicks specialist and saved two against Costa Rica to put the Netherlands into the World Cup semifinals.Krul said the switch, which was kept secret from Cillessen, had been in the works all week as the Netherlands built up to the game in Salvador.

“I knew before the game that the possibility was there. If we had one more substitution the manager said that he would consider putting me in goal and it happened,” he said.

“It’s a dream come true for me. I watched the penalties. We’ve been preparing with all the goalkeepers and the goalkeeper coach,” he added.

Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt, who played his part by burying his spot-kick along with fellow veterans Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder hailed a “great job” by Krul.

“I was not too busy with Tim because I was expecting that we could kill the game beforehand,” he said.

“But everything has been spoken in the team and we know that Tim is a very good penalty-saver. Let’s say that when he came in, I was not surprised,” he added.The Dutch switch called Costa Rica’s bluff after they appeared to play for penalties, a strong suit after their 5-3 shoot-out win over Greece in the round of 16.Krul’s leading role came after opposite number Keylor Navas was repeatedly Costa Rica’s hero as he kept out the scores goalless over 120 minutes.

But Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto denied his players were intimidated by the late introduction of the imposing Krul and said shoot-outs often came down to “luck”.

“Maybe he’s a (penalties) specialist and I respect that but we’ve never seen that before,” said Pinto.“Actually, I thought they were a little nervous because it wasn’t the same goalkeeper that played the rest of the game. He stopped two penalties but that’s the way it is — it depends on luck, very often.”