Tim Krul — a childhood lesson in squad value

Verbruggen drew on vivid personal memories to illustrate his point. He recalled watching the Netherlands reach the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg as an eight-year-old, before witnessing Tim Krul's game-changing penalty-shootout heroics at the 2014 tournament four years later.

At that time an 11-year-old who had just joined his first professional academy, Verbruggen said the image of Krul walking on as a substitute and winning a shootout left a lasting mark on him.