I've been talking a lot about how we as sports fans seek the remarkable in the sports we watch. The remarkable things become a part of us, we carry them with us--but sometimes details slip our minds until prompted.
The other day, I was cleaning up space on my DVR and found that I'd saved the Netherlands-Costa Rica match from the 2014 World Cup. I couldn't for the life of me remember why, but I figured there had to be a reason, probably a great goal or something, so I fast-forwarded through it. No goals. 0-0 at the end of extra time. On to penalty kicks. Wait a minute, I said. I remember this match. This was the match that the Dutch dominated, doing everything but scoring--they put several shots off the post or crossbar. And then in the 120th minute, just as extra time was about to end, Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal substituted first-choice keeper Jasper Cillessen, sending on Tim Krul, ostensibly their penalty specialist. I'd never seen anything like it. According to the announcers, Krul had only saved two of twenty PKs he'd faced in the last two seasons, but on this day, he certainly believed in himself. He got in the face of each of the Costa Rican kick takers, clearly talking trash. He indicated that he knew which way they were going to go with their kicks, and apparently he did. He faced five kicks, diving the right way all five times. He saved two of them. His teammates didn't miss, and the Netherlands advanced, 4-3. Remarkable.
(Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, the Dutch finished their semifinal match against Argentina at 0-0 as well. This time Van Gaal had used all three substitutes. In the shootout, it was the Argentine keeper, Sergio Romero, who made two saves. Cillessen made none. Argentina advanced to the final, 4-2.)