Until Krul's improbable entrance into the game, the goalkeeping star had been Costa Rica's Keylor Navas. He stymied the formidable Dutch attack through extra time but was unable to produce a save during the penalty shootout. Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt all converted their penalty kicks with clinical calm that left little chance for Navas.
"I think we created a lot of chance and we couldn't score," Sneijder told ESPN's John Sutcliffe after the dramatic conclusion. "We were a little bit unlucky. We hit the post. We hit the bar. We had, like I said, a lot of chances. But finally we won. I think tonight we definitely deserved to win. There was our only goal to go to the semifinal and we are there now. We have to recover well because it was a heavy match, a tough match."
The Netherlands will face Argentina in the semifinals on July 9 at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo.
source: huffingtonpost.com By Chris Greenberg