Photo by ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
The Dutch dream lives on.
The Netherlands reached the World Cup final with a 3-2 victory over Uruguay at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Captains Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Diego Forlan scored in the first half with long-range efforts, but the Netherlands netted two goals in a span of three minutes in the second half to book a place in its third World Cup final.
Goals in the 70th and 73rd minutes by Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, respectively, helped pave the way for the Dutch. Sneijder's strike, a curling shot from 15 yards out, was questionable, as Robin Van Persie attempted to make a play on the shot from an offside position.
Uruguay pulled one back in the 90th minute when Maxi Pereira placed one in from the top of the penalty area following a free kick, but the Netherlands managed to hold on to the victory.
Here are the match highlights:
The Netherlands will play the winner of Wednesday's Spain-Germany match on Sunday. The loser of the semifinal fixture will face Uruguay in the third-place match on Saturday.
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What do you think of the Netherlands' 3-2 win vs. Uruguay? Think the Dutch can win it all? Did Uruguay impress you with its run?
Share your thoughts below.
and went a man down and Ghana got a penalty kick….so how is it their fault that Ghana missed THAT penalty kick PLUS 2 more in the shootout???
Once the Dutch scored, the game really opened up. El Celeste is a better team than I gave them credit for (last in group A…yeah…) and Forlan carried them through the tournament. He has to be on the World XI.
I’m excited that it isn’t Brazil/Italy or France/Brazil, etc. in the final. I’ve been rooting for Spain the entire tournament and I still believe they have yet to play to their full potential. Tonight’s game is monumental. It would be nice to have two teams fighting for their first star above their crest. Viva Espana.
Jabulani tho /s
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In all seriousness, people won’t let great goals just be great goals this World Cup. The narrative has stuck, and any wonderstrike is due to goalkeeping error and/or whacky movement by the ball. Yes, that mystical lemon known as the Jabulani…oh so magical is behaves, er, like a soccer ball (but don’t tell the media!).
It’s laughable to see (fill in the blank player or team) do something nice with the ball, met with the sadly predictable “He’s the only one we’ve seen control this ball isn’t he” nonsense from the commentators. At some point you’d think they’d remember the 50,000 times prior when they said something similar about someone else.
Hm, it appears that my inclusion of a naughty word prevented by message from going through.
Gist of it was: I’ve watched hundreds of matches, and their disgraceful display against Brazil was the WORST I’ve ever seen. They were not nearly as bad today, likely because of the outcry from last game.
But I don’t get how anyone can overlook or defend that type of diving. There is a difference between drawing a foul, and rolling around the floor like you’re dying, every 2 minutes like Robben did against Brazil. The first is (barely) tolerable, the latter is disgusting and shouldn’t be condoned by anybody who wants soccer to have even a sliver of integrity.
Nor does the excuse “well he WAS getting fouled” hold up. No, he was not, as replays proved at least half of the time.
“team in which six players defend, three attack, and Dirk Kuyt runs about”. Jonathan Wilson
Perfect explanation for the dutch…
Odds on Van Bommel getting a red card?
I’d say 3-1.
Finally someone, who understands it. Blatant dives are actually pretty rare, most of the time there is a contact and sometimes this is the only way for attackers to preserve their health …
What a pathetic defense: “everyone dives!” Are you really defending this sissy cheating as just “part of the game”? If so I want nothing to do with it, nor should any self-respecting American, or for that matter, human being.
Apologizing for it is precisely why it persists. Can you imagine something like this being tolerated in American sports? And no, taking a charge from a 250-pound dude sprinting to take your balls off, is not equivalent to flopping around like a fish without being touched.
If this disgrace was roundly condemned and mocked, it would end. Instead we get enablers like you.
That video’s resolution and clarity leave something to be desired. The ESPN feed looked rather different.
Everyone dives but Italy takes it to an extreme. They are the worst of them all.
I will never miss the Italian’s dives.
Sadly our very own Rico Clark would make that list.
Yeah, because then the all the Uruguayans dressed up as Ghana players for the penalty shoot out too. I think I saw Abreu miss on of the Ghana penalties too.
You want to complain about killing teams. How about the fact that Paraguay had a legit goal in the first half that was called back and nobody seems to care.
The Dutch beat Brazil at their own diving game… it was pure genius.
The Forlan goal was deflected… why can nobody see that?
The Forlan goal was slightly deflected – why has nobody mentioned that and how it wrong footed the keeper?
He was onside – end of story.
Everyone dives! The problem is that the pro Anglo press have been hammering home for years that only the Latins (S. Americans + Italy/Spain/Portugal) do it and many people believe the propaganda. The Dutch didn’t just start diving, neither did anyone else. In most cases, there is an actual foul that occurs and the player is embellishing it to make sure the foul is called. Something like 30% or more of goals scored are from free kicks. If the ultimate goal is to win games then it makes sense that players would attempt to create those situations and gain an advantage. I would like to see a lot less of the fake injuries and crying once the whistle is blown.
Frightening defensively, as well. Kuyt is the unsung, do-everything hero of that team. No way Elia tracks back like he does.
Robben is a much better / more entertaining player when he stays on his feet, like he did today.
Holland would be absolutely frightening if they played with Robben on the right and Elia on the left.
Real shame the world’s “great” divers did’nt make it.
In Nike’s thank you commercial, American players are urged to never never never dive. I hope that sticks! Still, when “taking a charge” is the play that presents itself, a little extra flourish gets you noticed by that ref way the bleep across the field. Great big canvas – broad brush.
Good point… the artistry of Italian and Brazilian diving will be sorely missed in the final. What a sad state of affairs that the the divers with great finesse are not there.
I’ll have to disagree. Stekelenburg misplayed it. From that far out, I think she should have seen the spin (unless he was screened–i don’t think he was) and reacted in plenty of time.
OK watching the replay again, it looks like he was screened and couldn’t pick up the spin in time to correctly judge the trajectory. I stand corrected.
As for vB’s goal, one could make the argument that Muslera was a step out of position (i’m not sure that he was, but that would be the argument–i think). Other than that, it was just a well struck ball. Definitely one of the top in this tournament.
From FIFA.com, out of the 21 shots Ronaldo had this tournament, 19 from outside the penalty area, and he couldn’t score on of those. Gio pops one and scores the goal of the tournament. Love it.
Yea..they blatantly stopped a goal that would have made them lose. geezz
Yeah, almost like a clinic on how to score from that spot with either left or right foot: VanB’s was a left footed laser with little to no bend and Juninhos was hit with his right foot and bends away into the side netting.
Back from watching the game…if anyone’s interested to see the reaction in Amsterdam when the game ended, I just uploaded the video…Cheers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut5RPG1C1IQ
Did anybody notice that the Van Bronckhorst goal was almost exactly the same as Juninho’s (L.A. Galaxy) at Seattle on Sunday? Of course Van Bronckhorst’s goal looked like it had a lot more power, but it was taken from almost the exact same spot and placed in the same exact spot in the net. Kind of a funny coincidence.
Yes, this is a ridiculous trend. I do think diving should be more heavily punished, but anyone who thinks the Dutch are bad divers doesn’t watch much soccer. Their theatrics are nothing compared to Greece or Italy or most Central or South American teams. And nothing they have done is even close to the level of underhandedness that Ivory Coast displayed in getting Kaka sent off.
My main beef with the Dutch is how rough Van Bommel was playing. He was like an ogre out there and he should have had 2-3 yellows by the time he got his first (utterly meaningless) one.
The goalie on the second shot was expecting a two-seam fastball and got a cutter instead (spin-wise, that is)… most baseball players don’t make much contact on that either.
Not a mistake, just an incredibly well-struck ball. As was the first, though that one didn’t bend weirdly to elude the keeper.
If you think the keeper messed up on the second goal of the game why don’t you think the keeper messed up on the first goal of the game? The first shot was farther away and was straight into the corner.
I don’t think the keepers messed up on either goal I just think they were both just World Class shots.
The announcers claimed Robben “dived” when an Uruguay defender ran right through him. On another play they claimed a Dutch player dived when a Uruguay defender kicked the crap out of him and clearly knocked him down. When you are an announcer that doesn’t have anything to add and is incapable of analyzing the game I guess you can always go back to the soccer players dive bag of quotes.
Yea..they made Ghana miss that penalty at the 120th minute by shooting cootie lasers at the Ghana captain….
Get a dam gripe, they did nothing wrong there!! Had that happened in the 20th minute nobody would be up at arms over it…geezz
I think everyone bitches about diving regardless of who’s doing it. The Dutch have been the worst at simulating and embellishing this World Cup, other countries have been worse historically. It’s all the same, I wish it didn’t have a part in the game. Plus, as a US supporter, I’m not a fan of our increasing tendency to pull the same stunts. I know Dempsey and Altidore do get beat up all game, but they also are “good at selling” the contact, to put it nicely.
Of course everybody dives, but if diving is considered an art then the Dutch are fingerpainters.
Their dives are clusmy and never ending. There’s no sense of time or place or tactics, they just fall down over and over again. And so often when they don’t need to. It’s tiresome, juvenile and lacks respect for the game and for themselves.
Hope they get blown out in finals.
I guess 0:59 in the video doesn’t interest you then? Or do you think the offside video technology is wrong?
VanB’s goal is one of the best of the FIFA WC. Funny how everyone bitches about diving. Dutch are doing what Italy and S.Americans have been doing quite successfuly for years. Brasil and Arg. lovers asre now aghast when the tactic is turned against them, boo hoo.
van Bommel was a tool tonight as well.
I like the Orange well enough but de Jong will never be welcomed in the US. Ives should come out with his brake leg team. Dirty players who do dangerous stuff to others. De Jong and Prince Boetang would be the core of that team.
Would love to see Spain win but i’ve got my doubts about them taking care of the Germans.
Ah. My apologies to Coach Tabarez.
Uruguay can have no complaints about dodginess considering what they did to Ghana!
Van Bronckhorst’s goal was like a guided missile. Incredible strike, that.
I’ve watched De Jong at Manchester City too and I’m surprised he doesn’t break someone’s leg every week, same goes for van Bommel
Perhaps not the place, but after De Jong broke Holden’s leg, remember how he reacted as if Holden was faking, and reached down and tried to pull Holden’s hand away from his leg? What a complete tool. He should have been banned after that one.
I dont like De Jong either, but it is because of the tackle on Stu Holden.
He wasn’t onside if you think so you need your eyes checked and the slight deflections are irrelevant. Very dodgy goal, the Dutch got lucky
I’d like to be happy for the Dutch but I can’t because:
De Jong (dirty player and no, not because of the Stuart Holden tackle)
Robben (dives more than anyone in the world cup)
That was a VERY entertaining match! Van Bronckhorst’s goal is the best goal of the entire tournament so far. Phenomenal strike! Forlan’s was also good, but the GK made a mistake on the play as well.
The Dutch still leave too much space in the center of the pitch. The most effective attacks against them have come up the center. We saw it against Brazil, and now Uruguay. That said, they’re a worthy finalist. Can’t wait to see who their opponents will be!
If you post a video that shows Van Persie was in an ON-side position before the ball took 2 deflections, then why write “as Robin Van Persie attempted to make a play on the shot from an offside position”
FYI…
Forlan left in the 85th minute and coach Oscar Tabarez revealed after the match that his star played hurt.
“From minute one he had a problem,” Tabarez said. “I’m not dumb enough to take him out at 3-1 when the match wasn’t lost. He was injured and could not continue.”