Tim Krul was the hero as Norwich City sealed a shock FA Cup victory against Jose Mourinho’s Premier League giants Spurs.
Spot-kick hero Tim Krul was back to his old tricks as Norwich City knocked Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup on Wednesday night, admitting to the Pink’Un that he ‘played’ with Troy Parrott during a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
Is there a better man in the game right now than Krul when it comes to a sudden-death situation?
A man who famously rose from the bench in the 120th minute of a World Cup quarter-final to drag Holland over the line against Costa Rica was the star of the show once again this week after Tottenham and Norwich cancelled each over out in an FA Cup fifth round clash.
Krul denied youngster Parrott from 12 yards in the penalty shoot-out before blocking Gedson Fernandes’s tame effort as the Canaries reached the last-eight for the first time in 28 years.
And the experienced shot-stopper has admitted that he delved into the dark arts to put 18-year-old Parrott off his game.
“For me personally, I look at the player. Who’s confident and who’s not,” Krul said. “The young lad, Parrott, I played a little bit with his head.”
“I said, ‘I haven’t seen many penalties from you when I’ve done my homework’ and he just looked at me.”
“This is when you have to forget about everything and just go back to what I know and what I’ve learnt with my experience from Brazil (in the 2014 World Cup) to wait on the line and react to the shot.”
Tottenham fans everywhere had been praying for Jose Mourinho to put his faith in Republic of Ireland international Parrott with Spurs suffering form a lack of presence up top in the injury-enforced absence from Harry Kane.
But the irony will not be lost on Mourinho that it was a mistake from the teen sensation which set Spurs on their way to a fourth straight defeat in all competitions.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
