In retrospect, the 2022 World Cup has proven to be both a blessing and a curse for Andries Noppert. After the final tournament in Qatar, where the goalkeeper scored highly in the Dutch shirt, the expectations became too high, he said.
The last three years in Noppert’s career have been turbulent, to say the least. After his excellent performance at the World Cup, where the Dutch team reached the quarter-finals, things went downhill. Injuries, the lack of a transfer and personal mistakes contributed to this. In 2026, Noppert is no longer the first goalkeeper in Heerenveen.
De Frisian has been the subject of discussion quite often, and sometimes it bothered him. “All that gossip around me. I was done with that. I’m not a stone, am I? Gosh, I sometimes thought. What is being said and written about now?” Leeuwarder Courant. The 31-year-old Noppert had the feeling that he was under a very large magnifying glass. “I sometimes thought: my mistakes get much more attention than those of other goalkeepers.”
This undoubtedly has to do with his status as a former goalkeeper of the Dutch national team. A few years later he dares The Tower of Joure It’s fair to say that that adventure turned out to be a curse as well as a blessing. “Well, yes, indeed. People expected things that I couldn’t deliver.” At Oranje it was as if there were strings hanging from the ceiling, Noppert continues metaphorically. The goalkeeper grabbed those strings and climbed up that way. The high level simply made him better.
“Then I came back to Heerenveen. With all due respect, but those strings were gone. How on earth can I still be the goalkeeper that I was with the Dutch team?”, concludes the candid Noppert.
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