Bart Verbruggen opens up: His idol is Van der Sar, his form at Brighton and the mission to lead the Netherlands to the 2026 world championship

Bart Verbruggen, number one goalkeeper for the Netherlands and Brighton national teams Talk about inspiration from idols like Edwin van der Sar and emphasize his clear goal for the 2026 World Cup, wanting to lead the "Orange Knights" to win the country's missing trophy. Verbruggen opened up about growing up watching Van der Sar and studying the details of his game since childhood. “He is clear in his decisions, reliable and consistent.” That is the model he is striving to achieve. While it is accepted that different eras of football cannot be directly compared, the principle is that important moments are always important. At club level, the 23-year-old goalkeeper joined Brighton from Anderlecht in 2023 for a fee of around £16.3 million and has gone on to become a number one for both club and country. The past two seasons He played 74 Premier League matches, keeping 17 clean sheets, helping Brighton finish eighth for two years in a row under German head coach Fabian Herselaer. The 33-year-old is set to win the right to return to European football for the second time for the club in next season's UEFA Europa Conference League. Behind the scenes development Verbruggen credits his work with goalkeeping coach Jelle ten Rauwelaer, whom he has known since they were 15 years old at NAC Breda and then Anderlecht. before meeting again at Brighton Wealer has experience working with Ruud van Nistelrooy at Manchester United and Leicester City. He clearly reiterates his idea. “I was obsessed with the process. Because the results will be reflected by working every day, making small adjustments in life so that performance on the field will be consistently better.” His pace and ball also help him to become more and more prominent. A clear example is the Euro 2024 game, a 0-0 draw with France, where Verbrucken completed 97.5% of his passes (39 out of 40), the highest in the history of the tournament since records began in 1980, and Kaoru Mitoma's long lay-up to finish the score in a 3-0 win over Chelsea in February 2025, which earned him Goal of the Year awards from multiple publications. Even though there will be mistakes along the way (Four errors leading to Premier League goals in 2025-26) But he saved a crucial penalty from Igor Thiago to help his side beat Brentford 2-1 in November. which is an important point of the season Verbruggen's World Cup memories start from the 2010 final in which the Netherlands lost 0-1 to Spain, when Iker Casillas made a solitary save against Arjen Robben before Andres Iniesta scored the winning goal. He always believed that goalkeepers could decide the championship, like Emiliano Martinez's crucial save against Roddal Kolo Muani late in extra time in the 2022 final, where Argentina won the championship over France. for the Netherlands The World Cup is still a cup to look forward to. After missing out on runners-up in 1974, 1978 and 2010, Verbruggen reiterated that “Everyone sees Holland as a big nation. There are many great players including Johan Cruyff, Dennis Bergkamp, ​​Van Nistelrooy. The world champion is what is missing. And we on this team have a chance to change that.” The "Orange Knights" have overcome the word of missing the championship and will be able to compete in the 2026 World Cup. --- ## Related Articles 1. [Premier League](https://azkalsgoal.com/fil/news/benfica-nagpahayag-ng-pag-upo-kay-marco-silva-muling-babalik-si-jose-mourinho-sa-real-madrid) 2. [Semaine productive : Wolverhampton lance sa reconstruction](https://onzeactu.com/fr/news/semaine-productive-wolverhampton-lance-sa-reconstruction)