After 32 years since their last appearance in a World Cup Final, the Netherlands will again see themselves in the biggest game of the biggest stage following their victory over a scrappy Uruguay by a score of 3-2.
La Celeste mounted a late surge and pulled back a goal in second-half stoppage time. Nonetheless, the saying rang true and it was too little, too late for the South Americans, who were beaten by three great goals from Giovanni Von Bronckhorst, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben.
From the onset, Uruguay made their gameplan clear: Defend and take advantage of Holland’s errors. That plan, though, nearly backfired early on, as a couple of nervous moments in defense almost put the South Americans in a hole.
The game’s first notable chance didn’t come until the 18th minute, and it resulted in a spectacular goal for the Dutch. Von Bronckhorst took the ball on the left side of the midfield, took a moment to look up and fired an absolute rocket from 15 yards off the left edge of the box and into the far top corner to give Netherlands the lead.
No doubt a result of giving the opponents too much space in the middle, Uruguay pushed their lines forward and tried to establish a link between the defense and forward Diego Forlán. But it wasn’t until the 36th minute that La Celeste would get their first clear shot at goal – an easy ball that goalie Maarten Stekelenburg trapped.
The South Americans refused to give up and, five minutes later, Forlán finally brought his side even with a great long-range effort of his own. After creating some space with a cut-back 35 yards out, he unfurled a left-footed curler down the middle that powered through Stekelenburg’s hand and into the goal.
The second half took on the same rhythm as the beginning of the first, with the only difference being that Uruguay played a little better in the back. And it was almost them who took a lead just after the break.
Just six minutes in, a slow back pass forced Stekelenburg to charge out of his box to clear the ball, but he crashed the clearance into an on-rushing Edinson Cavani. The rebound ended up at the feet of Uruguayan midfielder Álvaro Pereira, whose shot at the keeper-less goal was headed out by Von Bronckhorst.
Slowly but surely, the Dutch offense began to work their magic again, utilizing the space provided by Uruguay in the midfield to create a few solid chances at goal, finally finding the net twice more in a span of three minutes.
The Netherland’s second goal was typical Dutch mastery. In the 70th minute, Robben passed across the box to Robin van Persie, who then passed it further down to Sneijder. The attacking midfielder controlled the ball and then fired towards the far post to once more give his team the lead.
Just three minutes later, Dirk Kuyt, who troubled the South Americans early in the first half, whipped in a cross from the left that Robben met with his head, sending the ball to the bottom of Muslera’s right post for the two-goal cushion.
The Netherlands had a few more chances to completely bury the game, but their continued misses urged Uruguay forward and, two minutes into stoppage time, right back Maxi Pereira buried a curler to give La Celeste some late hope.
Uruguay continued to push on in an attempt to overwhelm a Dutch squad famous for their lack of focus late in a game, but the Oranje held off the opposition and earned a spot in the final on Sunday against the winner between Spain and Germany in Wednesday’s much anticipated semifinal.
Uruguay will go on to play in the third-place match on Saturday.
Scoring Summary:
NED –Von Bronckhorst, 18’
URU – Forlán, 41’
NED – Sneijder, 70’
NED – Robben, 73’
URU – M. Pereira, 90’ + 2’
Lineups:
Uruguay – Muslera; Cáceres, Godín, Victorino, M. Pereira; A. Pereira (Abreu, 78’), Arévalo, Pérez, Gargano; Cavani, Forlán (S. Fernández)
Netherlands – Stekelenburg; Van Bronckhorst, Mathijsen, Heitinga, Boulahrouz; Kuyt, De Zeeuw (Van der Vaart, 46’), Sneijder, Van Bommel, Robben (Elia, 89’); Van Persie
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