Where was the Dutch penalty stopper?

Only a few days ago, he was the hero for the Netherlands after his two  brilliant saves ended the fairytale story of Costa Rica at the quarter-finals.

However, last Wednesday night goalkeeper  Tim Krul was nowhere to be found as his side painfully crashed out  of the World Cup semi-finals against Argentina on penalties.

With the regulation time failing to produce any winners and the match gradually edging towards penalty shoot-outs, most fans, particularly those supporting the Dutch, watched, hoping Krul would come on as a substitute just as he did against Costa Rica.

That was not to be as Jasper Cillessen manned the post for the entire duration of the game and during the penalty kicks.

Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder missed their shots, while a new goalkeeper hero, Romero, emerged.

So where was Krul and what happened to him? How could coach Louis van Gaal miss his tactical change  when it had worked so well for him just days earlier?

As it turned out, van Gaal and his men having tormented the Argentines were damn sure they would win within the stipulation time and rather exhausted his substitutions. 

His captain, Robin van Persie, who before the match was reported unwell, had to be changed in the final minutes of the game, visibly tired and ineffective.

Earlier, for his tactical plan, he had taken off Daryl Janmaat for Bruno Martins Indi as well as brought on Jordy Clasie for Nigel de Jong.

The Dutch fans were disappointed that when it mattered most, Krul’s expertise in stopping penalty kicks could not be best utilised.

"I subbed in  Janmaat for Indi because of Indi's yellow card and because he was often slow or too late – too much space was created because of him.

"De Jong was taken out because I didn't want to risk him getting injured and also because Clasie can play forward much better than him. I substituted van Persie because he was exhausted," he told a post match press conference.

Much as his explanation sounded reasonable, it was no consolation for the Dutch fans and even his team as they now have to come to terms to playing Brazil in the third place match.

This time, the master tactician got it wrong and it has come with a heavy price, losing out on the final which they so deserved and where they played so well in at South Africa 2010.