With rain falling and the entire stadium standing, the ticket to the World Cup title game came down to a distance of 12 yards and a series of guesses: Left or right? High or low? The Netherlands or Argentina? This time, the Dutch squad had no theatrics or surprises up its sleeve. There’d be no substitutions, no miracles and for the Netherlands, no return to the World Cup finale.
After 120 minutes of scoreless soccer in Wednesday’s semifinal, Argentina knocked in four penalty kicks to the Netherlands’ two, earning a spot in Sunday’s championship against Germany. Argentina has won all six of its games in this tournament by a combined score of 8-3 and knows that it could be 90 minutes away from hoisting the World Cup championship trophy for the first time in 28 years.
“I don’t know what we’ve crossed now, but we’ve made it to the end,” Argentina Coach Alejandro Sabella said. “It’s a line of no return.”
Wednesday’s highly anticipated match lacked the thrills — not to mention the scoring — of the previous day’s semifinal, Germany’s 7-1 thrashing of Brazil in Belo Horizonte.
When 30 minutes of extra time expired and the scoring drought remained unbroken, the two sides lined up for penalty kicks. Just five days earlier in his team’s quarterfinal match against Costa Rica, Netherlands Coach Louis van Gaal surprised many by swapping goalkeepers before penalty kicks — a move that proved to be prescient and earned the Dutch a spot in the semis. But that option wasn’t available to him Wednesday, as he’d already used all his substitutes before time expired.
“If I’d had the opportunity to substitute, yes, I would have done it,” van Gaal said later.
The coach was all too familiar with the other team’s goalkeeper, too. He’d coached Sergio Romero when the Argentine was just embarking on a pro career in 2007 with the Dutch club AZ Alkmaar, where van Gaal was coaching at the time.
“Of course, I taught Romero how to stop penalties,” van Gaal joked later.
In fact, Romero, 27, had studied a binder with details on each player’s shot history and tendencies. The energetic goalkeeper was more than ready, as the Netherlands lined up its first shot. Twelve yards away, Ron Vlaar approached the ball. He went right and Romero guessed right – a save.
Then Argentina’s star Lionel Messi went left and the Netherlands’ Jasper Cillessen guessed wrong. The advantage tipped to Argentina and Arena De Sao Paulo shook.
Arjen Robben managed to sneak one in for the Dutch, but Ezequiel Garay matched for Argentina. Once the Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder kicked the ball into Romero’s outstretched hands and the Argentine goalkeeper started to pound his chest, the night suddenly started to come into focus: After 120 minutes of soccer, much of it taking place far from either goal, Argentina had a date for this Sunday afternoon at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
The Netherlands, meanwhile, will face Brazil on Saturday in Brasilia in the tournament’s third-place match. The Dutch squad was aiming for a repeat trip to the World Cup title match. It lost the 2010 championship to Spain, 1-0, and entered this year’s tournament with more modest expectations. “If I’d had the opportunity to substitute, yes, I would have done it,” van Gaal said later.
The coach was all too familiar with the other team’s goalkeeper, too. He’d coached Sergio Romero when the Argentine was just embarking on a pro career in 2007 with the Dutch club AZ Alkmaar, where van Gaal was coaching at the time.
“Of course, I taught Romero how to stop penalties,” van Gaal joked later.
In fact, Romero, 27, had studied a binder with details on each player’s shot history and tendencies. The energetic goalkeeper was more than ready, as the Netherlands lined up its first shot. Twelve yards away, Ron Vlaar approached the ball. He went right and Romero guessed right – a save.
Then Argentina’s star Lionel Messi went left and the Netherlands’ Jasper Cillessen guessed wrong. The advantage tipped to Argentina and Arena De Sao Paulo shook.
Arjen Robben managed to sneak one in for the Dutch, but Ezequiel Garay matched for Argentina. Once the Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder kicked the ball into Romero’s outstretched hands and the Argentine goalkeeper started to pound his chest, the night suddenly started to come into focus: After 120 minutes of soccer, much of it taking place far from either goal, Argentina had a date for this Sunday afternoon at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
The Netherlands, meanwhile, will face Brazil on Saturday in Brasilia in the tournament’s third-place match. The Dutch squad was aiming for a repeat trip to the World Cup title match. It lost the 2010 championship to Spain, 1-0, and entered this year’s tournament with more modest expectations.
Argentina is aiming for its third World Cup title. Led by Diego Maradona, the Argentines topped West Germany, 3-2, in the 1986 final in Mexico City. Four years later, in their most recent appearance in a World Cup final, they lost to Germany, 1–0, on a penalty kick in the 85th minute.
“I have great admiration for two countries from a football point of view, Brazil and Germany,” Sabella said. “I believe that Germany throughout its entire history, they have always shown physical might, tactical prowess, mental force. They’ve always had, particularly when they make history, a certain South American touch,” Washington Post reports.
