Total Football is now passé. Bert van Marjwik’s Holland is all about total entertainment. The Dutchmen progressed to their third World Cup summit clash after defeating a battling Uruguay 3-2 in an exhilarating semifinal at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Great goals, bone-crunching tackles, build-up moves that included sublime passing and swift counter-attacks, and, of course, the blaring of 40,000-odd vuvuzelas — this match had it all as the Dutch marched into the final with a perfect six wins from six matches.
The tone of the match was set early. In the 8th minute a deft backheel pass from Diego Forlan at the halfway line released Alvaro Pereira, who on seeing Holland goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg slightly off his line, went for an audacious goal but his effort sailed narrowly over the crossbar and a backtracking Stekelenburg.
In the 18th minute Holland went ahead with a goal of supreme power. After a swift round of passes that saw the ball swing from the left flank to the right and back again it reached captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst 35 yards out. The 35-year-old unleashed a left-footed piledriver that kept swinging away from a full-stretch Fernando Muslera and rebounded of the inside of his far-post and fell into the net to send the majority orange-clad fans into a tizzy.
However, as the first half began to progress Uruguay showed the resilience that saw them advance to this stage.
Dutch players weren’t given an inch as the Latin Americans closed them down on every occasion possible. Uruguay’s persistence paid off as the talismanic Forlan created a goal out of nothing and added another feather in his cap.
In the 40th minute, the Atletico forward got the ball 25 yards out and left his marker Joris Mathijsen for dead with a deft turn, created space and fired a left-footer that a wrong-footed Stekelenburg could get a hand to but such was the power off his strike it deflected of his palm and into the net.
Uruguay began the second period much like they had ended the first and in the 52nd they almost went ahead as Holland paid the price for Khalid Boulahrouz’s lazy back pass, but skipper van Bronckhorst cleared a goal-bound effort with his head.
In the 67th minute Forlan struck a curling free-kick from 23 yards with pace, but Stekelenburg was up to the task and palmed it away. That was the turning point.
Just a couple of minutes later, Holland’s man of the moment Wesley Sneijder put the Europeans ahead with a powerfully struck shot from the edge of the penalty box that struck defender Maximiliano Pereira’s shin and went in as even as a despairing dive by Muslera was not enough.
In the 73rd minute, Robben effectively sealed the contest. A measured cross from the right-flank by the industrious Dirk Kuyt was headed in by the Bayern Munich star.
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez took off his marquee player Forlan — who was given a standing ovation by even the Dutch fans. It was almost as if he had thrown in the towel. Thankfully his team did not and continued to fight as they have done so consistently all throughout the tournament.
In stoppage time, off a clevery worked free-kick routine, Pereira’s left-footer sneaked past Stekelenburg. The last two minutes were the hardest for the Dutch as the Uruguayans threw everything but the kitchen sink at them.
However, in the end Holland held on and as the referee blew the final whistle, the party began for the Dutch.