By this point, most Norwich City fans will know that Tim Krul has turned down the chance of joining up with the Netherlands national team this international break.
The reason for that is because he wasn’t actually called up by Louis Van Gaal to be a part of the squad for the upcoming games, but due to the fact that the manager wanted the shot stopper to take part in a scientific study of penalties, which the 34-year-old is renowned to be good at saving.
The Norwich player said no and chose to remain where he is, meaning with the Canaries, which the Netherlands manager wasn’t overly pleased with.
In passing, he made it clear that Krul had no future with the national team and wouldn’t be part of the World Cup squad, which we can’t see the goalkeeper being too fussed about at this point.
Over in his home country, there are some who admire his decision to stand up to Van Gaal, among which can be found Mikos Gouka, who wrote about it in Algemeen Dagblad.
Relayed by Soccer News, he said: “Tim Krul must be knighted. He’s the first one that said ‘let’s all just be a little normal with each other for a moment’. He hasn’t been selected for the squad but for this study. If you are a great professional footballer who has played in the Premier League and has made it to the Netherlands squad in the past, you don’t come for a study, do you?
“There’s something small about it all. Krul is the first to say ‘my regards, this is not for me’. I also thought it was toe-curling for Scherpen and Bijlow.”
Unlike Krul, Vitesse goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen and Feyenoord’s Justin Bijlow did decide to take part in the study, perhaps hoping that doing so would put them in Van Gaal’s good books.
For the Norwich player, there’s better things to do, especially at his age, but with the other two having their whole careers ahead of them, it might make a bit more sense.
