One thing is certain with Louis van Gaal – it is never boring. The experienced coach never takes the steady path, he goes either for glory or to despair, and the Dutch public was a little worried when he omitted Jasper Cillesen from the list of 26 passengers for Qatar and brought 28-year-old Andries Noppert from Heerenveen as a goalkeeper. And they were even more worried when Noppert started between the posts in the Group A derby against Senegal.Nothing to do in the first half, but in the second one, he was the most creditable for his side’s 2-0 victory. In the 64th minute, with 0-0 on the scoreboard, he stopped a shot by Boulaye Dia, then in the finish, he prevented Idrissa Gueye and Pape Gueye from scoring. And all that at his debut with the national A team.Only three years after he was relegated to the third league. Of Italy, of course. But let’s go through his story step by step.WC2022: Gakpo, Klaasen sink SenegalNoppert was born in Heerenveen, he started his career there, but he could not even make his debut in the first team, so he moved to NAC Breda. It wasn’t any better there either, only six games in four years, he realized that it was time for a radical change and went to Foggia, to the Italian Serie B.And not only was he relegated to Serie C after conceding 12 goals in eight games, but he also experienced some difficult moments in his life in Foggia.”My car was stolen. Although I managed to get him back from the mafia” – Noppert (at 203 centimeters the tallest footballer in the World Cup) revealed in a recent interview.He added that he generally felt unsafe in Foggia. During his tenure, the club’s ultras set fire to the car of captain Pietro Iemello. They wanted to scare the owner of the club, Franco Sannella, with explosive devices.”After the defeat, we were not allowed to appear in the city. Ultras would pump out our tires or bombs would explode in our yard,” Noppert recalled.The club was not only relegated to Serie C at the end of that season, but went bankrupt and had to go to the fourth division of Italy. Noppert realized it was time to go home.He was accepted by the second division club Dordrecht, although his family, including his wife, begged him at the time to give up his dreams of football and accept a safer job. Specifically, they pleaded him to become a police officer. He refused and it seemed that it was a wrong decision. After just one season, Dordrecht fired him, and Noppert was without a club from June 2020 to July 2021.Andries Noppert earns a clean sheet in his first cap for the Netherlands 🧤🇳🇱The 28-year-old Heerenveen goalkeeper spent most of his career as a backup, was advised by family to give up football in 2020, and was without a club twice in his career. Never give up 👏 pic.twitter.com/Vcpn8bD6gD— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 21, 2022 And just when it really started to look like the end of his career, the new Eredivisie side Go Ahead Eagles called. The club had a bad start to the season, Noppert finally got a chance and when the Eagles managed to survive in the Eredivisie, a call from Heerenveen came this past summer. Winter came and Noppert is now standing between the posts at the World Championship in Qatar, representing his country as the first goalkeeper.Stay true to your dreams – you never know what life can bring.QATAR 2022 WORLD CUPGROUP AFriday, Nov 25th16:00: (3.80) Qatar (3.10) Senegal (2.15)19:00: (1.65) Netherlands (3.80) Ecuador (5.50)***odds are subject to change***##SPECIAL_STANDINGS_Group A##
