The first place in the 2010 World Cup final will be booked tonight when the Netherlands takes on Uruguay in Cape Town in the first of the two World Cup semifinals.
The Netherlands will be heavily favored against an Uruguay team that will be playing without star striker Luis Suarez and veteran defender Diego Lugano (among others).
I will be providing commentary on today's match from Green Point Stadium in Cape Town so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):
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FINAL– That's all for me. Thanks for following along tonight and be sure to read my post-match coverage on FoxSoccer.com, as well as our coverage here on SBI. Feel free to share your post-match thoughts in the comments section below.
Good night (or good day in the USA).
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FINAL– The crazy part is Uruguay had a chance late to score an equalizer but couldn't get a shot on net. To think this game could have ended up tied if a bounce had gone Uruguay's way. The Dutch deserve it though. They pressed the issue in the second half and found the goals to win.
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FINAL– Netherlands 3, Uruguay 2. The Dutch are going to the final for the first time since 1978. Deserved win, and a gutsy performance from Uruguay, who have nothing to be ashamed of.
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95th Minute– Any second now.
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92nd Minute- GOAL URUGUAY!!! And it's Pereira off a short-taken free kick. Netherlands 3, Uruguay 2. Enough time left?
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90th Minute– All but over here. Dutch fans ready to go crazy.
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86th Minute– Eljero Elia comes in for Robben, who gets a loud round of applause from the fans today. He had been neutralized before streaking for the insurance header goal.
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85th Minute– Great Dutch sequence ends with Robben's weak chip saved easily.
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84th Minute-Can't say Forlan wanted to come out. Why take him out? Forlan at 50 percent is better than Cavani, who has been useless today.
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82nd Minute– Sebastian Fernandez comes on for Forlan, sure looks like the white flag from Tabarez.
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80th Minute– With this game basically in the bag, you have to think the Dutch will be underdogs against either Spain or Germany. This wasn't the most inspired first 65 minutes against a short-handed Uruguay team.
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78th Minute– Abreu in for Alvaro Pereira, Cavani moves to the left. Let's see how this lineup does.
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75th Minute– Abreu's coming in. Too little, too late.
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73rd Minute– Nice header by Robben who slides into the area unmarked and hits a free header. Caceres can't be blamed on that one.
Netherlands 3, Uruguay 1. The party has begun here in Cape Town.
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72nd Minute- GOAL NETHERLANDS!!!! And it's Robben with the finish. Netherlands 3, Uruguay 1. Looking good for the finals now.
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70th Minute– On a day when Robben and van Persie have been very quiet, it's Sneijder who steps up yet again. Can somebody say Ballon D'Or?
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69th Minute- GOAL NETHERLANDS!!!! And it's Sneijder with a deflected shot for the go-ahead goal. Netherlands 2, Uruguay 1.
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68th Minute– SAVE MUSLERA!!! What a one-handed stop, Robben skies the rebound, right-footed shot was always going to be missed by him.
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67th Minute– Forlan goes near-post and forces a good save from Stekelenburg.
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66th Minute– Dangerous free kick for Uruguay. Well, not normally dangerous, but Forlan can hit it from here.
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65th Minute– When will Tabarez make some subs?
Great ball from Forlan. How good is he? He needs to go to a bigger team than Atletico, and after this World Cup you have to like his chances of moving.
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60th Minute– Nice battle between former teammates Forlan and Heitinga, who played at Atletico Madrid together.
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59th Minute– Uruguay looks good tonight. Leave it to Oscar Tabarez to trot out a team that can perform like this minus so many starters.
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57th Minute– The Uruguay defense has played extremely well for a unit missing two starters.
Sneijder with a move to spring Robben on the wing. He earns a corner after finally getting the better of Caceres.
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55th Minute– Uruguay corner kick.
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53rd Minute– Will Robin van Persie show up today? He just drew a foul, but he's been invisible today.
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51st Minute– Dutch corner now. It floats out of bounds. Not Van Der Vaart's best effort. Even on that play you saw Caceres keep pace with Robben, knocking the ball off Robben's stride.
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50th Minute– Boulahrouz with an awful back-pass that nearly leads to an Uruguay chance. Uruguay corner.
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48th Minute– Caceres has done a great job on Robben. That's been big for Uruguay, with Robben pushing centrally to find some room to operate at times.
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46th minute– We're back and the Dutch have inserted Rafael van der Vaart in for DeZeeuw. If that doesn't spark the attack, I'm not sure what will.
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HALFTIME– Netherlands 1, Uruguay 1. The Dutch scored first, but Uruguay has had the better of the play as they've faced a rather lax Dutch team who couldn't build on a bright start. It's a much more even game than most would have expected and you wonder whether the Dutch can step it up in the second half, or if Forlan has any more magic left.
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45th Minute– There's a fine line between patience and lackadaisical play. The Dutch are riding that line. They need to step it up.
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45th Minute– The Dutch pay for sitting back and now we've got a game and a confident Uruguay team. So much for a blowout.
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44th Minute– Nope, Forlan with a heat check and kicks it right to STekelenburg.
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43rd Minute– Cavani draws a foul, setting up a decent free kick from 35 yards out. Should set up a header chance.
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42nd Minute– Forlan was always going to have to do it alone, and he did, with a dream goal. He did have some help from the Jabulani, but a beautiful finish nonetheless.
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41st Minute- GOAL URUGUAY!!!! And it's Forlan with the BLAST. You knew he would find a way. WOW. Uruguay 1, Netherlands 1.
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39th Minute– Maybe I'm forgetting somebody obvious but can anybody name the last time a goalkeeper wore all white in a game this big? Just doesn't seem right for some reason.
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37th Minute– The Dutch content to sit back right now and look for counters.
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34th Minute– Better from Uruguay. They aren't going to go away easily tonight. Did I mention I don't like Cavani up top?
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31st Minute– The Dutch should be able to break Uruguay down again, but the question is whether Uruguay does something.
The Dutch are yelling at Cavani for diving. WOW, talk about irony. Cavani does need to give it up as a forward. I'd be shocked if he gets a shot on goal this game.
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28th Minute– Caceres got a yellow card, as did Sneijder for the handbags afterwards.
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27th Minute– Caceres just knocked out De Zeeuw, who was knocked out by an attempted bicycle kick by Caceres. No ill intent, just a bad clash. De Zeeuw is walking off under his own power.
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25th Minute– Uruguay corner.
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24th Minute– Poor JustFernando Muslera. The last two goals he's surrendered were on two of the best goals of the tournament. (no, not Justo Villar, no idea where that came from. Long month)
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23rd Minute– Uruguay with its own slight dive, minus the death rattle.
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21st Minute– A yellow card for Max Pereira for a foul on Robben, who was apparently stabbed in the spine by an unseen shank on that play.
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19th Minute– That has to be demoralizing for Uruguay. You play pretty solid defense to start and you get beaten by an insane goal. The Dutch can smell it now and are pressing the issue even more.
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18th Minute– WOW, talk about a left-footed BLAST from distance. He rocketed that off the inside of the top of the far post. Keeper was helpless. van Brockhorst. WOW.
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17th Minute– GOAL NETHERLANDS!!! And it's Giovanni van Brockhorst!!
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16th Minute– Forlan's frustrations are showing. He just gestured to Cavani to move. At this rate Uruguay should just drop Cavani into midfield and cease with the charade of having him be a forward.
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15th Minute– Poor Forlan. So crafty and creative, but he's got no rapport with Cavani up top and has no support from the central midfield in attack.
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13th Minute– Forlan is frisky early. He's going to find some chances today. That's pretty clear early on.
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11th Minute– Twice already we've seen Forlan and Cavani not have their timing right. The Dutch defense is showing some cracks, but Uruguay can't capitalize.
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10th Minute– Kuyt with a beautiful turn that leads to a decent sequence, but Uruguay's keeper eventually gets hold of the ball. Interesting to see Sneijder float wide and Kuyt move up, even if briefly. That time the shift worked well.
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7th Minute– I'll concede that Oscar Tabarez is a great coach but I can't help but wonder if he shouldn't be starting Cavani on the left flank to go at Boulahrouz, who isn't the fastest right back you'll find.
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5th Minute– The Dutch are showing patience. No early blitz. They will pick their spots.
Not having Diego Lugano is huge for Uruguay, but not having Jorge Fucile is just as bad because he had been one of the best left backs in the tournament and could have been used to deal with Robben.
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4th Minute– Dutch fans are out in force, but Uruguay's fans are starting to make some noise.
Robben with his first good move.
KUYT JUST OVER! Good look in the area but he skies it.
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2nd Minute– Lots of England flags here. Clearly England fans thought their team would be here.
I do see at least two USA flags.
Uruguay looking to get forward early. Nice to see.
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1st Minute– And we're off.
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PRE-GAME– At my seat in the stadium. What a sight. Tons of Orange in the house. Uruguay's anthem was pretty spirited, the Dutch anthem was a bit somber.
Almost kickoff.
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PRE-GAME– I'm heading to my seat now. I'll be back shortly.
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PRE-GAME– Here are the lineups:
URUGUAY
————-Forlan————-Cavani—————
Pereira—–Arevalo——Gargano———-Perez
Caceres—–Victorino—-Godin———-M. Perreira
———————-Muslera—————————-
NETHERLANDS
———————Van Persie————————
—-Kuyt————-Sneijder—————-Robben
————-DeZeeuw——van Bommel————
Van Brockhorst–Mathijsen—Heitinga—-Boulahrouz
———————-Stekelenburg———————–