Dutch book final place
Dutch book final place
Posted: Jul 6 2010
Netherlands rode their luck at times but just did enough to book their place in the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a 3-2 victory over Uruguay in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Goals from Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben where enough for a semifinal victory, with the South Americans netting through the brilliant Diego Forlan and Maxi Perreira.
Sneijder was once again the inspiration for the Dutch, netting his fifth goal of the tournament that draws him level with Spain's David Villa at the top of the scoring charts.
Dirk Kuyt fired over after a weak punch from Fernando Muslera in the Uruguay goal in what was a great early chance, while Sneijder had a goal-bound shot blocked by hos own man.
But the Dutch were ahead on 18 minutes and it came via an unbelievable strike from distance by Van Bronckhorst. He collected the ball 35-yards out on the left and unleashed a venomous drive that had the beating of Muslera.
Might the keeper have done more? Possibly, but the shot arrowed into the top corner and the stadium, virtually clad in orange, erupted.
Uruguay were struggling to break the Dutch defence down but Edinson Cavani should have done better when he broke into the box, and with two teammates to aim for, inexplicably held onto the ball too long and allowed the Netherlands defence to close the space.
Forlan, a virtual spectator to this point, headed over from 10-yards, but he soon had his side on level terms, and again it was a poor piece of keeping.
The striker was given acres of space outside the box on 41 minutes and his curling shot looked comfortable for Maarten Stekelenburg in the Dutch goal. But he misjudged the flight of the ball and moved left instead of right and could only get a few despairing fingertips on the ball as it few into the net.
Forlan had a 35-yard free-kick saved by Stekelenburg a few minutes later as the South Americans ended the half on top.
Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk made a positive change at the break, bringing on attacking midfielder Rafael van der Vaart for the more defensive Demy de Zeeuw, but it was Uruguay who almost took the lead.
A weak back-pass from Khalid Boulahrouz was too short for Stekelenburg and eventually fell to Alvaro Perreira, whose shot from 35-yards looked to be going in before Van Bronckhorst cleared off the line.
Stekelenburg was forced to beat away a Forlan free-kick from 30-yards midway through the second period, while at the other end Van der Vaart forced a great save from Muslera and Robben couldn't convert the rebound when he should have at least hit the target.
The Dutch were ahead on 70 minutes and it had a somewhat fortuitous look to hit. Sneijder's shot took a big deflection off Uruguayan defender Maxi Pereira, wrong-footing the keeper and ending up in the back of the net.
The ball narrowly missed Van Persie on its way through and had he got a touch to it the goal would surely have been disallowed for offside.
And it was 3-1 just a few minutes later. Kuyt was played into acres of space on the left and his cross was headed home by Robben from almost on the penalty-spot. Like the two previous goals, it too bounced in off the post.
Robben should have wrapped-up the scoring late on when he was put through on goal, but in the end he never really shot when confronted with Muslera and the chance was gone.
There was still time for some late drama as Maxi Perreira struck a late effort from just outside the area, and while the referee somehow found almost six minutes of injury-time when there should have been just three, the Dutch held on to reach their first final since 1978.
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: 2010-07-07 09:14
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