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Tim: 'Another Great American Adventure'
Written by Newcastle Utd
Tim Krul was part of United's pre-season tour of America in 2011, and is looking forward to another positive trip
By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor
It has been four years since Newcastle United were last in America for pre-season, but that trip holds fond memories for goalkeeper Tim Krul.
In the summer of 2011, the Magpies faced Sporting Kansas City, Orlando City and Columbus Crew, coming away with a mixed bag of results in the shape of a win, a draw and a defeat from their three friendly fixtures.
However, the fitness developed in intense training sessions and the team spirit forged on that trip laid the foundations for an outstanding campaign in which United finished fifth in the Barclays Premier League, qualifying for the Europa League in the process.
And as Newcastle arrive Stateside on Sunday for another trio of warm-up matches, in which they take on Club Atlas, Sacramento Republic and Portland Timbers, Krul hopes this summer's tour will have the same knock-on effect.
"I'm excited to go to America and really step our pre-season up," the Dutch stopper told nufc.co.uk.
"I've got good memories of our last trip there (in 2011). The heat is something else and I remember it wasn't easy to train in but on that trip we started to really come together as a team out there.
"It was a hard pre-season - a tough tour - but it really kicked us on and we went unbeaten for the first 11 games of that season, and ended up finishing fifth.
"If we could get the same preparation and response this time, it would be amazing."
As well as the hard work on the training pitch and in the friendlies, the pre-season tour will give some of United's large American fanbase the chance to watch their heroes in action.
And that won't go unnoticed in the Magpies' dressing room.
"There's a great support for us out there," continued Krul.
"I remember the fans coming to training sessions and our friendlies in really good numbers.
"Since then I've seen a lot of photos and flags on Twitter of our fans all across America. They get together in pubs and bars to watch our games, and that's great to see that they support us so well from so far away.
"So it's nice to be heading out there again and hopefully quite a few manage to get along to see us."