World Cup 2010: Netherlands 3-2 Uruguay - Full Time Review
It will be the Netherlands who will progress to the Final of this year's World Cup, after a 3-2 victory over the last remaining team from South America, Uruguay. After a rather slow first half, the match came to life in the second half with the Netherlands racing to a 3-1 lead before a determined Uruguayan side scored a late consolation to set up a tense finale to the semi-final in Cape Town.
After the first half the score was 1-1 with Diego Forlan's left foot shot cancelling out an even better effort from the Dutch Captain, Van Bronckhorst. The possession in the first half was dominated by the Netherlands, with Sneijder and Robben getting more involved in the game as the half reached its climax. The Uruguay team had to rely mainly on counter-attacks but neither side had any real attacking threat and both the goals came out of nothing at all.
The Dutch coach, Bert Van Marwijk brought on Van der Vaart for the holding midfielder de Zeeuw in hopes of helping the team get another goal. It was Sneijder, though, who scored the second goal for the Dutch. It came in the 70th minute and put the game firmly in the hands of Netherlands. Sneijder's shot from the edge of the penalty area took a deflection off a Uruguay defender, which meant the keeper had no chance at all in stopping the shot.
The goal was Sneijder's 5th of the tournament and takes him level with David Villa of Spain for the title of golden boot. Sneijder has had a phenomenal season, being central in an Inter Milan team that conquered Europe as well as the domestic competitions in Italy. In the World Cup he has been one of the best players, if not the best, so far. Winning the World Cup will surely put him in the running for World Player of the Year, something not undeserved for the Dutchman.
The third goal of the game was scored by another man who has been in the form of his life this year. Arjen Robben does not score many goals with his head but you would not know it from the way he finished off the cross from Dirk Kuyt in the 73rd minute. The keeper, Muslera, once again had no chance at all to stop the ball from nestling in the back of the net as Robben scored for the second time in the World Cup.
Shortly, after scoring Robben was taken off as a precaution because of his inevitable injury problems. There was still time in the match for Uruguay to find a goal. A quickly taken free-kick found its way to the feet of Maxi Pereira, who slotted the ball in the corner to give Uruguay some hope.
The referee seemed to take forever to blow the whistle for full time but it came eventually, to the relief of the Dutch players and fans alike. Now the Dutch can relax and wait for the other semi-final game between Spain and Germany which will decide who will play the final against Netherlands in Johannesburg on the 11th of July. Whoever it is, though, the Dutch will back themselves to lift their first ever World Cup.
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