Netherlands beat Uruguay 3-2, enter World Cup final
 Follow the live commentary between Uruguay vs Netherlands right here! 90+8: That's all from me. Thanks for tuning in to Goal.com, and come back tomorrow for our live coverage of Germany/Spain! 90+7: Uruguay played very well, but in the end, the Netherlands were arguably the better side. Sneijder's goal was debatable, but allowed, and the final result is really all that matters. The Dutch advance to the final, where they will face the winner of Germany/Spain. 90+6: FULL TIME! After nearly six minutes of added time, the final whistle is blown. NETHERLANDS ADVANCE TO THE FINAL! 90+6: CHAOS IN THE PENALTY AREA AGAIN! Uruguay have a chance to equalize, but the ball is cleared! 90+4: What's going on now? There were supposed to be three minutes of added time. As the fourth minute ends, the whistle is blown and...cameramen invade the pitch and... Van Bommel is booked as play continues?? 90+4: Yellow Card Mark van Bommel 90+1: Goal Maximiliano Pereira 89: Chaos in the penalty area as Uruguay look to pull a goal back, but Cavani's header is saved. There can be no put-back, however, as the linesman has ruled the attacker offside. 89: Substitution Arjen Robben Eljero Elia 86: Boulahrouz heads back to Stekelenburg, and Fernandez comes close to intercepting, but is just a step behind. That nearly set up a nail-biting finish! 85: Substitution Diego Forlán Corazo Sebastián Fernández 82: ROBBEN!!! Excellent defending from Godin! The winger sprints to a cleared ball, and plays a 1-2 with Sneijder. Godin does extremely well to hold off Robben, and Victorino clear 80: Caceres goes to ground and looks hurt, but Uruguay continue their attack momentarily, until the Dutch win possession. Robben runs towards goal, but touches a bit too hard, and Muslera collects. 79: Abreu comes on to replace Alvaro Pereira, and Boulahrouz is booked after appearing to win the ball. 78: Yellow Card Khalid Boulahrouz 75: Kuyt has plenty of time and space on the right, and dlivers a cross behind Robben, who recovers and delivers a pinpoint header into the lower-left corner. 3-1 to te Dutch, who are closing in on a spot in the finals! 74: Goal Arjen Robben 73: ROBBEN! GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! 71: Cruel turn of events of Uruguay! Sneijder fires towards his near post, but the ball is deflected rightward. Van Persie, who was in an offside position, lets it go, and the ball travels just inside the right post. 2-1 to the Netherlands! 70: GOAAAL SNEIJDER!!! 70: Goal Wesley Sneijder 68: VAN DER VAART! ROBBEN!!! HOW DID THE DUTCH FAIL TO SCORE??? Van Persie collects a long ball and immediately draws three defenders. He cuts the ball back for Van der Vaart, whose shot is parried. Robben is charging in at the back post, but his right-footed strike of the bouncing ball goes off target! 67: AND STEKELENBURG SAVES! Terrific free kick from Forlan, but the Dutch goalkeeper parries in his lower right corner. 66: Van Bommel comes in late on Caceres, and Uruguay have a free kick 10 yards outside the penalty area. Forlan stands over it... 65: Forlan floats a perfect ball to Alvaro Pereira, whose first touch is superb. Boulahrouz defends well, however, and eliminates any danger. 60: Excellent link-up play on the left flank from Uruguay, but the final cross is wasted - no striker is anywhere near the ball, which is cleared. 58: Robben jinks past Caceres, but Rios has his teammate's back and concedes a corner. Robben swings in the ball, but Godin is pushed down by Heitinga, and Uruguay have a free kick. 54: Sneijder sends in an excellent free kick, but Mathijsen can't control his header, and Uruguay have a goal kick. 51: CHANCE FOR CAVANI!!! Boulahrouz plays a weak back-pass towards Mathijsen and Cavani breaks towards the ball. Stekelenburg deflects it, and Alvaro Pereira catches him off his line from distance. The ball was headed for goal, but Van Bronckhorst makes a crucial save!!! 49: The Dutch keep moving into forward positions well, but have very little width. Robben, Kuyt, Sneijder and Van Persie all link up well until they reach the edge of the Uruguay penalty area, where they all try to play the same position. The Uruguayan defenders hold their ground. 46: AND THEYRE OFF AGAIN! Netherlands kick it off and immediately go on their front feet. Van Bronckhorst delivers a dangerous cross, but he is flagged offside. 46: Substitution Demy de Zeeuw Rafael Van der Vaart HALFTIME! The Dutch, who appeared to be breaking forward with a numerical advantage, are a bit peeved, but go into the tunnel without much argument. 45+1: Kuyt picks out Robben at the top of the box, but he's marked by three defenders and has a tough ball to control. Robben has been playing more centrally than usual over the last few minutes. 45: ..Stekelenburg saves comfortably. Uruguay really are looking good right now. Two minutes of extra time to be added. 43: On second glance, one really must question Stekelenburg. The ball swerved back and forth in typical Jabulani fashion, but the Dutch goalkeeper probably should have done better. 41: FANTASTIC GOAL BY FORLAN!!!! The #10 receives the ball deep, turns, and fires on goal from well outside the box. Stekelenburg gets a finger to it, but is unable to keep it out! Incredible! 40: FORLAN!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! 40: Goal Diego Forlán Corazo 35: CHANCE FOR URUGUAY! Sneijder loses possession deep in his own half, and Cavani is released on the right side of the penalty area. Mathijsen commits himself to a hopeless tackle, but gets away with it. Cavani tries to cross, but it deflects off Heitinga's chest, near his arm. 33: As a cross sails over his head, Cavani bumps into Van Bronckhorst and his legs suddenly turn to jelly. The referee waves play on, and the crowd is not amused. 31: ROBBEN!!! SO CLOSE! Van Persie makes an excellent turn to pick out Robben at the top of the box, but Caceres makes a potentially goal-saving intervention! That could have been 2-0! 30: And in the aftermath, Heitinga and Snejder move in to confront Caceres. Sneijder pushes over the Uruguayan. In the end, Sneijder and Caceres earn bookings. 28: OWCH! De Zeeuw goes down in a heap! Caceres tries a bicycle kick as his Dutch opponent attempts a header, and De Zeeuw gets kicked in the face! 28: Yellow Card Wesley Sneijder 28: Yellow Card José MartÃn Cáceres 27: Uruguay are trying to move forward, but with Forlan playing as a striker, are having a difficult time linking between midfield and attack. 24: As a general comment, the play tonight has been very open thus far. Both sides are committed to quickly move the ball from end to end. Uruguay are obviously interested in scoring, but the Netherlands appear similarly committed to the attack. 22: Maxi Pereira earns a booking for a poor foul on Robben, who really made a meal of it. 21: Yellow Card Maximiliano Pereira 20: It's full steam ahead for the Dutch now. Sneijder picks out Robben with a slick pass, and with his first touch, the Bayern Munich winger flicks on for Van Persie, but the ball is cleared for a corner. 18: AN UNBELIEVABLE STRIKE FROM THE VETERAN FULLBACK! From well outside the penalty area and out to the left, Van Bronckhorst is baited into shooting, and punishes the defenders. His shot sails just past Muslera and in off the right post. INCREDIBLE! 18: GOAAAAAAAAL VAN BRONCKHORST! WHAT A STRIKE!!!!!! 18: Goal Giovanni van Bronckhorst 13: SNEIJDER!!! Ooh, if only Van Persie hadn't been in the way! The Inter midfielder does well to make space at the top of the box before driving his shot straight into his teammate. Uruguay clear... 10: Kuyt takes an immaculate first touch to free himself on the left flank before crossing into Robben's direction. After a bit of shaky defending, Muslera claims the ball. 8: Van Bronckhorst gets bailed out as his clearance deflects off Cavani's arm. Uruguay had done well to press the Dutch defender into a corner, but a free kick is awarded. 6: Alvaro Pereira finds himself all alone and marked by two defenders, so he has a go from a good 50 yards. Stekelenburg is untroubled as the ball sails over the bar. 4: KUYT!!!! He REALLY should have done better! Robben first skins Caceres before having his cross blocked. Muslera then punches Robben's second cross only as far as Kuyt, who sends his shot well over the bar. That should have been 1-0! 2: The Dutch look to move the ball upfield through the middle before Cavani intervenes. Uruguay attack, but Pereira is a hair offside. 1: AND THEY'RE OFF! After a bit of ping-ponging, Van Bommel comes in with a hard tackle on Alvaro Pereira, clearing the ball out for a throw-in. Captains Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Diego Forlan meet in the centre circle to exchange pleasantries before retreating to meet with their respective teams. One minute until kickoff! And for the Netherlands: Stekelenburg - Boulahrouz, Heitinga, Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst - Van Bommel, De Zeeuw - Robben, Sneijder, Kuyt - Van Persie Here's the starting lineup for Uruguay, in 4-4-2 formation: Muslera - M. Pereira, Godin, Victorino, Caceres - Perez, Gargano, Arevalo Rios, A. Pereira - Cavani, Forlan For the Netherlands, right back Gregory van der Weil and midfielder Nigel de Jong are suspended due to accumulated yellow cards. In their match against Ghana, Luis Suarez famously handled the ball on the goal line (and was duly punished with a red card) to keep his team's hopes alive. Accordingly, the Ajax striker is suspended for today's match. Defenders Diego Lugano and Nicolas Lodeiro are also set to miss out with injuries. Both teams took narrow victories in the quarterfinals, with the Netherlands coming from behind to beat Brazil 2-1 in regular time. Uruguay also had to recover from an early deficit against Ghana, and had to go to penalty shootout in order to advance. Hello, and welcome to Goal.com's live coverage of Uruguay/Netherlands! I'm Clark Whitney, and I'll be keeping you company over the next two |
