Thomas Kraft didn’t really know what happened to him. At least that’s what his facial expression suggested: Kraft’s facial expressions fluctuated between astonishment and horror. The then goalkeeper from Hertha BSC was asked whether he could say something about Uli Hoeneß’s upcoming birthday.
The incident happened a few years ago. And a few years earlier – you have to know that – Uli Hoeneß, then President of FC Bayern Munich, had etched that “the shit” had started in the first place with the change from Jörg Butt to Thomas Kraft in the goalkeeper position, “on well said in German”.
That wasn’t particularly nice of Uli Hoeneß, especially since he didn’t mean Kraft personally, but actually Louis van Gaal, the Bayern coach. The Dutchman not only had it in his head to make Thomas Kraft, the goalkeeper from his own offspring, great; he had thus torpedoed the club’s desire to commit a certain Manuel Neuer. You don’t need new ones, van Gaal had let his superiors know. You have Thomas Kraft.
Things didn’t end well then. Not for Thomas Kraft, who eventually moved to Hertha in Berlin. And not for Louis van Gaal, who was soon no longer a coach at Bayern.
Louis van Gaal and the goalkeepers: That was always a special story. Back then with Bayern just like at the 2014 World Cup, when he came on for penalties against Costa Rica Tim Krul. Or like now again in Qatar, where van Gaal’s Dutch will meet the USA in the round of 16 this Saturday (4 p.m.). Andries Noppert will be in goal again, until recently a nobody like Thomas Kraft.
The round of 16 against the USA is the fourth international match for the 28-year-old, who made his debut in the Dutch Elftal almost two weeks ago at the World Cup opener against Senegal. In the meantime, Noppert is already being celebrated by the newspaper “De Volkskrant” as “the budding cult hero”. Because he still talks the way it’s on his mind and he seems a bit like an amateur footballer who suddenly made it into the national team.
It’s not logical.
Andries Noppert on his rise to number one in the Netherlands
Holland’s new no. A year ago, Noppert was only on the bench at Go Ahead Eagles. Two years ago he didn’t even have a club.
At the time, his parents advised him to look for a real job. “It’s not a normal career,” says former Bremen rider Davy Klaassen, who wants to become world champion with Noppert in Qatar.
But what is normal with Louis van Gaal? At the World Cup, he not only does without Jasper Cillessen, who used to play for Ajax Amsterdam, for FC Barcelona and has the greatest standing in the Dutch public.
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Andries Noppert had played international matches before the World Cup in Qatar.
He also does without Mark Flekken from SC Freiburg, whom the Bonds coach had described as a real van Gaal keeper in the spring. Instead, alongside Noppert, he has called up 39-year-old Remko Pasver from Ajax Amsterdam, who won his first international cap at the end of September, and Justin Bijlow from Feyenoord Rotterdam.
Bijlow has long been considered Holland’s future number one. With Feyenoord he was in the final of the Conference League in spring and is currently at the top of the Eredivisie table. But van Gaal was not completely convinced of the goalkeeper’s performance. Of the three keepers for Qatar, he said when presenting his squad, only Noppert was actually in good form.
Van Gaal has long kept a secret about who will be his number one at the World Cup and then actually did what many had long suspected – precisely because Noppert seemed the most impossible of all variants. “I never thought that would be possible. But if it can happen to anyone, it’s him,” said Noppert, who is under contract at SC Heerenveen, bottom of the honor division. “It’s not logical.”
When it comes to goalkeepers, Holland’s bonds coach is almost an obsession. When he talks about his tactical formation, he always counts the goalkeeper. His 5-3-2 system becomes a 1-5-3-2.
This is also due to the fact that the 71-year-old has very specific ideas about his keeper’s game. “If you’re holding a ball, that doesn’t mean you’re a good goalkeeper,” he says.
His ideal is still Edwin van der Sar, whom van Gaal made number one at Ajax Amsterdam at the age of 19 – and who has shaped modern goalkeeping like no other. Van der Sar was the first goalkeeper who played along in modern times, a goalkeeper, as van Gaal’s goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek calls him.
How close Andries Noppert, at 2.03 meters the tallest player at the World Cup in Qatar, comes close to this ideal has not yet been finally clarified. So far he has had little to do. On his debut against Senegal, it was more than an hour before he had to intervene for the first time. He conceded one goal in the group stage, which equalized the Ecuadorians to the 1-1 final score.
The excitement surrounding the goalkeeper position has largely subsided in the Netherlands. But that’s not because Andries Noppert has already completely convinced all doubters. It is because the doubts about the outfield players are now significantly greater after the previous, uninspiring performances.
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Source: Tagesspiegel
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
