Holland have beaten Uruguay 3-2 in the first World Cup semi final. The result means that the World Cup final will be an all-European affair as it was in 2006. This is only the second time in World Cup history that consecutive finals have been all-European; the last time it happened was in the 1934 and 1938 finals.

Holland opened the scoring thanks to a 35 yard rocket of a shot from their captain, Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Muslera stood no chance as the ball thundered into the top right hand corner from the left side of the pitch. Before half time Uruguay were level as the their captain, Diego Forlan struck a left footed shot from 25 yards with power and although Sekelenburg in goal got a hand to it, he couldn’t keep it out.

Uruguay had been comfortable all game, in particular it was admirable how Caceres as a make-shift left back thwarted Robben from making a real impact in the game. Midway through the second half, Sneijder scored to give Holland the lead again, his shot was deflected off Maxi Perreira but as it went towards the goal Robin van Persie stuck out a leg to try to shoot and although at best the ball may have ever so slightly brushed his shin it still went in. Uruguay were far from happy as van Persie was in an offside position at the time – swinging a foot at the ball does make him active in the move but the linesman didn’t raise his flag.

Within minutes of their second goal, Holland were out of sight. Kuyt cut back on the left hand side and played a cross in, Robben was unmarked and guided the ball in off the post with an accurate header. Uruguay looked deflated and withdrew Diego Forlan – no one has contributed more to their World Cup adventure than him.

With Uruguay pressing, and the game becoming stretched, van der Vaart and Robben both had chances to extend the lead. Uruguay pulled a goal back in injury time as Maxi Pereira’s left footed shot from the edge of the penalty area skidded into the left hand corner. Although they lumped the ball forward desperately, Uruguay could not get a late equaliser and Holland progressed to their first World Cup final for 32 years.

Holland have got this far playing without really hitting top form. They have been grateful to an own goal against Denmark, a goalkeeping howler against Japan and a goalkeeping error against Brazil. In Sneijder and Robben they do however have two of the tournaments most effective players. Sneijder is the tournament’s joint top scorer with 5 goals and he has pulled the strings for Holland throughout the campaign. Robben is their go-to man, the player who can produce something from nothing, he beats a man with ease and makes hard things look easy – although he gets stick for going down very easily he has been exciting to watch. The Dutch’s luck has stretched to Mark van Bommel – who has managed to survive the quarter final and semi final with only a booking. It is baffling how he was not sent off in either game after putting in some reckless tackles.

The Dutch will be confident going into the final. Some of their key men are in form and they have no players suspended. Robin van Persie who is yet to make a real mark on the tournament will be hoping to time his form perfectly and peak in the final. Holland seem to have great team spirit about them and this will have been a big factor in them getting this far.

The winners of Spain vs. Germany tomorrow will join Holland in the final. Johannesburg better be prepared for an Oranje invasion on Sunday – the Dutch are in the World Cup final.

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Tags: Doron, Holland, Netherlands, South Africa 2010, Uruguay, World Cup 2010

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 8:45 pm and is filed under Europe, Match Report, South Africa 2010, South America, World Cup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.