Stijnen steeled for Standard trial

Pressure on
However, should the 24-year-old perform similarly well in tonight's all-important league trip to R. Standard de Liège, Croatian international Butina may have bigger things to worry about than the bout of pneumonia which handed his understudy a first-team chance.

Inexperienced goalkeeper
Before last Wednesday's 2-1 UEFA Champions League defeat by Juventus FC, Stijnen had played just 12 games for Club Brugge since joining the Belgian champions from SC Hasselt in June 2000. Called on to replace the stricken Butina, he made a remarkable impression.

Stijnen saves
Juventus had 25 shots in all, 12 of them on target, and until late efforts from Pavel Nedvěd and David Trezeguet, Stijnen kept everything out. "Stijnen performed miracles in the Brugge goal," said Juventus coach Fabio Capello. "He produced a phenomenal display."

Ibrahimovic thwarted
Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic knew only too well how the goalkeeper had played as he was denied time and again. "I could have had a hat-trick if luck had been on my side," he told uefa.com. "The reason I didn't was that the goalkeeper had a really good game and what luck there was went his way."

Terrific block
Perhaps Stijnen's best save came when Ibrahimovic seemed to have rounded him on the edge of the area only for the youngster to sprint back to claw his effort away. Ibrahimovic said: "The nearest I got all night was the shot I hit to the near post but somehow he got back to save it."

Nothing to worry about
"I certainly don't have anything to be embarrassed about," Stijnen said afterwards. "People didn't believe me when I said I wasn't nervous but, honestly, I had nothing to worry about on that score. I had the sort of luck you get when you're playing well. But there was nothing I could do for the goals."

Ceulemans pleased
Ceulemans concurred, saying: "Thanks to Stijnen we kept it at 0-0 until the second half. And we got better and better as the game went on." The coach was certainly happy enough to include him in the first XI on Sunday when he made a string of fine stops to frustrate Beveren.

Sterner test
However, the match at league leaders Standard, who are a point above unbeaten Brugge in joint-second spot, may prove a sterner test of Stijnen's credentials. With injuries robbing Club Brugge of several key players, Standard may scent an easy victory. If Stijnen can deny them, however, a star could well be born.