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The Magpies' stopper was handed a starting berth in his country's 2-0 win over Turkey on Friday, and has revealed the opportunity did not come as a "total surprise"

By Jesse Wieten

Netherlands and Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul has expressed his delight with his starting berth in his side's victory over Turkey on Friday, revealing that donning the No.1 jersey was a "dream come true".

Oranjeclaimed all three points with a hard-earned 2-0 victory against Abdullah Avci's men, marking their first win under Louis van Gaal, who fielded a host of youngsters in their opening World Cup qualifying fixture, including the Newcastle shot-stopper.


Krul, however, has revealed he was not surprised with his place in the starting XI, despite admitting that the former Bayern Munich boss' plans were hard to gauge.

"It's hard to read Van Gaal's intentions, but I've had a lot of contact with [the Netherlands keeper trainer]," the 24-year old explained to

"He came to visit me a few times in Newcastle.

"You feel... No, you don't feel it coming, you can't. But you do hope it happens."

The Magpies' keeper's starting berth meant that both Maarten Stekelenburg and Michel Vorm were dropped, despite the pair being considered Bert van Marwijk's preferred choices at Euro 2012.

"The trainers took me aside on Tuesday, and told me I was currently Netherlands' No.1 keeper. It's dream come true, something I've always hoped for. Fantastic," he added.

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"At the Euros I was still third choice, but with a new trainer comes new chances, and everyone has to start from scratch. The trainer trust me."

Despite keeping a clean sheet, the young keeper did not put in the most solid of performances, but Krul believes the team is continuing to grow together.

"We got lucky a few times, but you need that in games like these. We played with a lot of young players. We have to get used to each other, but that will happen in time," he said.

"I wasn't nervous ahead of the game. Now I have to perform every game [because we have a host of quality goalkeepers]," the Dutchman concluded.
