Netherlands goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg playing well ahead of quarterfinal

Stekelenburg ready to face Brazil

DURBAN, South Africa — Maarten Stekelenburg never doubted he would be back in goal for the Netherlands, even injuries put him on the bench with his club team.

The Dutch goalkeeping crisis was so acute last year — with Stekelenburg sidelined for Ajax, his club team, and two other keepers hurt — that coach Bert van Marwijk pleaded with Edwin van der Sar to return from retirement for a pair of World Cup qualifiers.

But the Netherlands player with the most international appearances turned him down, and Stekelenburg’s path back to Oranje was assured. Van Marwijk selected him for the qualifiers against Scotland and Macedonia and he repaid his coach’s confidence with shut outs in both matches.

“I was not afraid I would not come back because I know what I can do and I think I’ve demonstrated that,” Stekelenburg said. “But it was a tough year last year. Maybe mentally it was good for me.”

The 27-year-old has now played 31 times for the Netherlands since making his debut as Van der Sar’s backup in September 2004. And he is looking forward to facing Brazil in Friday’s World Cup quarterfinals, after making two crucial saves to help the Dutch beat Slovakia 2-1 in the round of 16.

“At a crucial stage Maarten Stekelenburg saved us,” Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said.

The crucial moment was the 67th minute, with the Netherlands defending a precarious 1-0 lead and the momentum of the match swinging toward Slovakia.

Buoyed by its 3-2 upset of defending champion Italy 3-2 in its previous match, Slovakia poured forward in search of a tying goal.

In rapid succession, Stekelenburg tipped a powerful shot from Miroslav Stoch over the crossbar and then parried a close-range effort by Robert Vittek.

“Those two saves kept us in the match. They were two good shots,” Stekelenburg said. “After that we regained the initiative.”

Stekelenburg has only let in two goals in the Netherlands’ four matches at the World Cup — both penalties.

Samuel Eto’o beat him in the 2-1 win over Cameroon when the Dutch already were qualified for the next round, and Vittek scored a consolation penalty for Slovakia with the last kick of the match after Stekelenburg had brought down substitute Martin Jakubko.

The foul momentarily put Stekelenburg’s place in the quarterfinal in doubt as referee Alberto Undiano reached into his pocket for a card that turned out to be yellow instead of red.

Stekelenburg said he was not afraid he would be sent off for bringing down a player who had broken through to shoot.

“He was running toward the sideline and I think there was a defender on the goal line,” he said. “But you never know.”