- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Argentina advance to the 2014 FIFA World Cup final after defeating the Netherlands 4-2 on penalties, with the teams locked at a score of 0-0 after extra time.
This will be a repeat of the 1990 final, where West Germany beat Argentina in one of the more forgettable finals in World Cup history. The neutral will pray for a lack of repeat.
The Netherlands will need to muster some initiative for their third place game against Brazil on Sunday morning at 6:00am (AEST) in Brasilia. Brazil will be hurt and will be keen to restore pride in that famous yellow shirt.
After that, we look forward to the Estadio Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, where Germany will meet Argentina.
FINAL SCORE:
Netherlands 0
Argentina 0
Argentina won 4-2 on penalties.
It’s one final step before the final for the Netherlands and Argentina, as they ready themselves for a crunch semi-final at Sao Paulo. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 6:00am (AEST).
It has been eight years since these two proud footballing nations confronted each other on the pitch, and that too was at a World Cup, albeit in the group stage. This time, the stakes are higher, and the challenges for both teams contrastingly different.
For the Netherlands, it is a chance to put to rest a long-bemoaned trivia question: “Which is the greatest team to never lift the World Cup?” Three times runners-up, most recently in South Africa four years ago, Oranje know there is no tolerance for yet another “so close, but so far” tale.
Having powered through a tricky group stage with nine points out of nine, the Dutch have advanced to the semi finals the tough way, through a last gasp effort against Mexico and via penalties against Costa Rica.
The imperious front three of Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder were well nullified by Costa Rica in the quarter-final, and threatened to expose potential weaknesses in the remaining Dutch repertoire that oppositions like Argentina can exploit.
But Louis van Gaal is nothing but a canny operator, as his inspired substitution of Tim Krul against Costa Rica demonstrated.
While Jasper Cillessen can count on being van Gaal’s first choice, the key point is that the Netherlands have responded to the Manchester United-bound manager’s tactics and processes, which may enable the Dutch to measure beyond the sum of their rather serviceable parts.
While the absence of Nigel de Jong did not prove costly against Costa Rica, it may be a larger factor against the more imperious Argentina.
In contrast, the South Americans are all too aware how much their presence at the Maracana on July 14 will jangle every Brazilian heart. That alone should provide incentive for Argentina. La Albiceleste have won all their matches within the 90 minutes despite never being truly convincing.
This sets up either for a Dutch onslaught against a team that has failed to be properly tested, or an Argentine side waiting for its moment to unleash its full potential.
Central to that potential is Lionel Messi, but he will now have to lead the Argentine frontline without Angel di Maria, who was injured in the quarter-final win against Belgium. After Gonzalo Higuain’s well taken opener against Belgium, the team never looked close to threatening Thibaut Courtois’ goal again, relying instead on its defence to keep their opponents at bay.
The constant menace of Javier Mascherano meant that both Martin DiMichelis and Ezequial Garay could enjoy a quieter afternoon. Such a notion is unlikely to occur against the Dutch, where the front three are likely to constantly pose attacking threats.
Germany’s victory in the first semi-final will provide extra motive for the Netherlands, who previously tasted defeat at the final hurdle in 1974 at the hands of their neighbours, and will be thirsting for extremely belated vengeance.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.