Henk Timmer is now firmly established as Edwin van der Sar's understudy, even though he had to wait until he was 33 to make his international debut. He sat on the bench for much of the World Cup qualifying campaign, before Marco van Basten finally handed him his first cap in the 3-1 friendly defeat against Italy in November 2005. The 34-year-old had spells with FC Zwolle, Feyenoord and Ajax earlier in his career, but only became recognised as one of the Netherlands' top shot-stoppers after joining AZ Alkmaar in 2003 and playing a key role in their transformation into Eredivisie title challengers.