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In the Netherlands v. Costa Rica World Cup game that just finished (5 July 2014), the Dutch substituted their keeper at 120+1', clearly solely for the inevitable penalty kick shootout. I'd expect the starting keeper would usually be the one entrusted with the PKs, so why did they put in the backup? Because he's fresh and the starter has been playing for two hours? I noticed he's a couple inches taller, is that enough difference to put him in? A combination of those?

The Result:

The gamble worked, Netherlands won 4-3 in PKs with a shot to spare. The winning save looked like the couple inches of height/armspan did make a difference.

In the Netherlands v. Costa Rica World Cup game played on 5 July 2014, the Dutch substituted their keeper at 120+1', clearly solely for the inevitable penalty kick shootout. I'd expect the starting keeper would usually be the one entrusted with the PKs, so why did they put in the backup? Because he's fresh and the starter has been playing for two hours? I noticed he's a couple inches taller, is that enough difference to put him in? A combination of those?

The Result:

The gamble worked, Netherlands won 4-3 in PKs with a shot to spare. The winning save looked like the couple inches of height/armspan did make a difference.

In the Netherlands v. Costa Rica World Cup game that just finished (5 July 2014), the Dutch substituted their keeper at 120+1', clearly solely for the inevitable penalty kick shootout. I'd expect the starting keeper would usually be the one entrusted with the PKs, so why did they put in the backup? Because he's fresh and the starter has been playing for two hours? I noticed he's a couple inches taller, is that enough difference to put him in? A combination of those?

The Result:

The gamble worked, Netherlands won 4-3 in PKs with a shot to spare. The winning save looked like the couple inches of height/armspan did make a difference.

In the Netherlands v. Costa Rica World Cup game that just finished (5 July 2014), the Dutch substituted their keeper at 120+1', clearly solely for the inevitable penalty kick shootout. I'd expect the starting keeper would usually be the one entrusted with the PKs, so why did they put in the backup? Because he's fresh and the starter has been playing for two hours? I noticed he's a couple inches taller, is that enough difference to put him in? A combination of those?

The Result:

The gamble worked, Netherlands won 4-3 in PKs with a shot to spare. The winning save looked like the couple inches of height/armspan did make a difference.