RELIVE: Netherlands v Argentina, World Cup - semi-final

Ahram Online provided a live coverage of the World Cup 2014 semi-final encounter between Netherlands and Argentina on Wednesday

Penalties: Netherlands 2-4Argentina
Argentina: Maxi Rodrigues scores!! Argentina through to the World Cup final to set up a meeting with Germany!!!
Holland: Kuyt scores!!
Argentina: Agurero scores!!
Holland: Schnejder misses, Romero thwarts the Europeans again!
Argentina: Garray scores!!
Holland: Robben scores!!
Argentina: Messi scores!!
Holland: Vlaar misses! The keeper blocks him!
120+1 The referee blows the whistle...as we are now heading to the penalty shootouts.
119' A blocked shot from Kuyt following some good work from Robben
117' Messi makes a stunning run down the right where he took on several defenders before crossing from the byline, but Maxi Rodriguez's strike from inside the area is picked up by easily again by Cillessen.
115' WHAT A CHANCE!!! Palacio goes clear on goal before attempting a looping headed effort that was collected by keeper Cillesen!! That for sure would have settled the tie!!
110' De Vrij strikes from a long distance...his effort goes wide.
108' Zabaleta now continues on with a cotton in his mouth!
107' Mascherano is down to the ground as he is being treated now.
The second half of extra time begins.
105+1 The referee ends the first half of extra time.
105' Cillessin punches away Messi's ensuing free kick.
105' Huntelaar booked following a challenge on Mascherano.
103' Robben frustrated after the referee refused to give him a deserved free kick.
101' The last change for Argentina; Maxi Rodriguez replaces Lavezzi.
99' Robben now drops deep and move forward, as he hits an ambitous strike from distance straight into the keeper's hands.
96' Holland''s last sub of the game, Huntelaar comes in for the ineffectual Van Persie.
94' Kuyt plays in an awful diagonal cross from the left..
92' Foul for Argentina in their own area conceded by Van Persie.
The Extra time gets underway...
90+3 The referee blows the whistle, we'll now be heading to extra time after an insipid tight 90 minutes.
90' WHAT A CHANCE!! Robben breaks clear down the left handside of the area but takes long to strike as Mascherano slides to again thwart him!! That could have killed the game in the dying minutes!!
87' Mascherano ran forward into space behind the Dutch midfield but an awful pass sees Vlaar timely intercept.
86' Demicheles makes a sliding tackle to deny Robben the ball down the left..out for corner.
84' Rojo strikes from distance, but the bal is easily gathered by the keeper.
82' Aguero comes in for Higuain..
81' Enzo Perez makes way for Palacio who now makes his first World Cup appearance.
74' Van Persie plays an overhead kick wide but the Manchester United man is adjudged to have been in an offside position.
71' Lavezzi bursts into the area before seeing his shot denied by a defender, a rare scene when a player from either side was given space in such a tight game!!
68' Robben looked dangerous now when he was left space at the back but the South Americans retreated quickly, with the once-promising attack ending up for nothing!
64' Biglia looks to have sustained the injury in his arm, it remains to be seen whether he will continue on the pitch.
62' De Jong makes way for Clasie for the Dutch's second change of the night.
60' Janmaat makes a crude sliding challenge on Biglia who is now receiving treatment.
58' Lavezzi escapes down the right before crossing in but the ball was headed to the ground!
55' Vlaar makes a superb interception to rob Messi of the ball. Holland are producing a great brilliant defensive game tonight.
54' In a rare forray by Robben, the Dutchman surges from the middle but eventually denied by the opponents' defense.
51' After what appeared to be a dangerous one-on-one by Argentine where Cillessen was forced to get out of goal to clear, the referee rules offside! It took the official so long to give his vedict.
50' But Sneijder hits the free kick high over the bar.
49' Free kick for Holland after Demicheles brought down Robben to receive a booking.
48' What an interesting scene! Garray kicks the ball out to wear his boot!
46' The first substitution of the game sees Janmaat replace the cautioned Martins Indi.
The second half now kicks off.
45+2 The referee blows the whistle, ending the first period.
45+2 A seemingly dangerous counter for Argentina sees Enzo send in an overcooked cross for Higuain who fails to connect with the ball.
45' Following a trademark piece of skill form Messi that saw him skip past a couple of challengers, Martins Indi gets into the referee's book following a foul on the Argentina ace.
43' Game mainly restricted to midfield, with both sides barely threating the opponents' goal.
39' Foul for Messi after Martins Indi made a fierce challenge against the Barcelona star while making a one-two with Lavezzi.
36' Lavezzi, who is superbly running down the channels tonight, latches onto a long ball on the right but Vlaar greatly intercepts his cross.
34' And it's now who is flagged for offside at the other end.
32' Following two blocks in quick succession by keeper Romero, Van Persie gets flagged for offside after trying to control the ball inside the area.
26' TV replays show his head had hit that of De Jong's during an aerial challenge for the ball but the Argentinian seems okay.
25' Mascherano is down to the floor with players surrounding him, it's unclear what happened to the Barcelona man though.
23' Argentina continues to dictate play, winning further corners but yet to pose real threat on goal.
21' Another corner for Argentina after Lavezzi's attempted cross was cleared by Martins Indi.
19' A brilliant team move down the right by Argentina ends up with a corner kick.
15' GREAT SAVE!!! Keeper Cillessen does well to block Messi's free kick, which was played beside the wall.
14' After a blasted effort from Sneijder, Leo Messi now wins a free kick from a great position near the area following a foul by De Vrij.
12' Lavezzi plays the free kick but the ball ends up with no threat from the South Americans.
11' De Vrij concedes a foul at the left after shoving Lavezzi..let's see who will take it.
9' A spell of dominance by the Dutch as Argentina recover the ball now.
6' The first time Holland reaches the final third, with inside-right Robben appearing on the left before being closed down by two players who eventually dispossess him.
4' Argentina moving the ball around now in an attempt to penetrate the Dutch packed midfield and defense.
The match gets underway.
21:57 The Argentina national anthem is now on.
21:55 Both sides have lined up as the Netherlands' national anthem is currently being played.
21:50 Both teams are exchanging talks and laughing together in the tunnel as they prepare to head to the field.
21:35 Should Robben play wide tonight, Argentina left back Rojo will be handed the task of marking the Dutch speedster.
21:30 Netherlands coach Van Gaal is using a three-man midfield tonight, understandably to face the threat posed by Argentina star Leo Messi.
21:25 Now both teams are warming up.
21:22 The Holland team have been given a warm reception from their fans, who constitute Brazilians looking to cheer the Dutch against their South American neighbours tonight.
21:20 Both teams are currently heading to the pitch to begin warming up.
21:15 Left-back Rojo returns from suspension to replace Basanta who featured in the last-eight win over Belgium as Enzo Perez also replaces the injured Angel Di Maria.
21:10 Nigel De Jong is the only change made by Netherlands, as he replaces forward Depay in the defensive midfielder role.
21:00 Two teams with a rich tradition and an abundance of motivation should produce a close game, characterized by tight marking, disciplined defense and threats on the break as they bid to reach the July 13 final at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana.
Lineups:
Netherlands: Jasper Cillessen, Dirk Kuyt, Ron Vlaar, Stefan De Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi, Daley Blind, Nigel De Jong, Georginho Wijnaldum, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie.
Argentina: Sergio Romero; Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis, Ezequiel Garay, Marcos Rojo; Lucas Biglia, Javier Mascherano, Enzo Pérez; Ezequiel Lavezzi, Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuaín.
20:00 An analysis by Five Thirty Eight showed that Messi attempts almost twice as many through-balls as any other forward in the world, and still has the highest ratio of assists from through-balls to attempted through-balls.
Without Di Maria to create options ahead of Messi and behind the defence, the Dutch will have one less facet of the Argentine attack to contend with.
19:15 Unfortunately for Argentina, Di Maria suffered the injury that will keep his out of today's game during that move.
Messi will miss the danger Di Maria creates with smart, angled forward runs. Di Maria's probable replacement, Esquivel Lavezzi, is an equally fast and direct player, but not quite as dangerous on the ball or as clever with his movement off it.
Gonazalo Higuain will play, but his movement is far more central. Another quick, dangerous Argentine attacker, Sergio Aguero, has been injured and may not be fully fit to face the Dutch.
And so, as a result, one of Messi's most dangerous weapons may be hampered against the Dutch. His passing is overshadowed by his goalscoring, but it is equally potent.
18:55Two Belgian defenders closed him down, but he found space by feinting to his right and then moving the ball back to his left. As the defenders back-pedalled frantically, Messi as if he might be contained and forced backwards.
Instead, he rolled a perfect 40-yard pass into the path of Di Maria.
His through-ball sliced slid tantalisingly close, but just beyond, the retreating defender, curling delicately across him and on to Di Maria's toes at the edge of the penalty box.
It was almost better that Di Maria's subsequent shot was blocked by Belgium's captain and stalwart central defender Vincent Company.
Messi's pass was so audaciously precise that its aesthetic accomplishment did not deserve to be upstaged by a goal.
Di Maria could have stopped the ball at his feet and walked away and the crowd would still have applauded.
18:40In rude health and having enjoyed a solid if not stellar tournament, Lionel Messi- partially hamstrung despite being perfectly fit- will undoubtedly be hampered by the absence of Angel Di Maria.
For it is Di Maria, missing with a thigh injury, who makes the runs that give Messi his options in midfield when receiving the ball and turning toward goal.
A microcosm of their relationship came in Argentina's quarter-final victory over Belgium.
In the 27th minute Messi received the ball just outside the centre circle in his own half.
18:20 Four key battles expected in today's game:
Netherlands winger Arjen Robben vs Argentina full back Marcos Rojo
Netherlands midfielder Wesley Sneijder vs Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano
Argentina forward Lionel Messi vs Netherlands defensive midfielder Daley Blind
Netherlands striker Robin van Persie vs Argentina defender Martin Demichelis
Read about the four key battles in detail here
18:00 Argentina survived two shootouts in 1990, beating Yugoslavia and Italy in the quarter- and semi-finals. They won another in 1998 when they eliminated England in the second round, and suffered their first defeat in the 2006 quarter-finals to Germany.
17:50In their two World Cup shootouts, the Netherlands lost in the semi-finals of the 1998 tournament to Brazil, and beat Costa Rica in the 2014 quarter-finals.
17:20It will be interesting to see whether the Argentine coach goes with the defense-minded Enzo Perez, who replaced Di Maria against the Belgians, or goes for a more attacking option.
His Dutch counterpart Van Gaal has been willing to adjust his lineup and formation for each game, but the one constant is the reliance on Robben to terrorize defenses with his high-speed dribbling.
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While much attention has focused on the tricky winger's tendency to go down easily in seeking penalties, that has distracted somewhat from the way his pace, directness and shooting have been the main focus of the Dutch attacks.
Van Gala's side have cut it fine on the route to the semi-finals though – they needed penalties to get past Costa Rica in the quarter-finals having only beaten Mexico by a controversial last-minute penalty in the previous round.
They will need striker Robin van Persie to recapture his form from the group stage to give the Argentina defense something else to ponder apart from Robben's direct threat.
The two teams have met four times before in the World Cup, including in the 1978 final which Argentina won 3-1 after extra time on home soil. That was their only win over the Dutch at the finals having lost twice and drawn once in the other matches.
17:10Team stats:
Distance run per match: Netherlands 114.8km, Argentina 109.6km
Passes completed: Netherlands 2,031, Argentina 2,438
Pass completion rate: Netherlands 80 pct, Argentina 80 pct
17:00The narrative around the 27-year-old Messi's stature in the game has long suggested that the four-time World Player of the Year needs to take his country to a World Cup triumph to enter the list of the game's true greats.
Whether that assessment is fair or not, Messi is certainly doing his best to prove that he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as compatriot Diego Maradona and Brazil's Pele.
The forward has four goals, all in the group stage, but his contribution has gone well beyond finding the back of the net.
16:45Messi has always had the ability, for Barcelona and Argentina, to drop away from the opposing back-line and run at defenses from deep, but in the quarter-final win over Belgium he played almost as a classic playmaking number 10.
In this withdrawn role, Messi successfully controlled the tempo of the game, slowing it down when needed and probing for spaces for striker Gonzalo Higuain to exploit.
So often the virtuoso who provides the dramatic crescendo to an attack, Messi has evolved in this tournament into the conductor of the orchestra.
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The absence of Angel Di Maria on the right through injury is a blow for Argentina because the Real Madrid winger has provided the other main attacking threat for Sabella's team.
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16:40Head-to-head statistics at this tournament:
Games played: Netherlands 5, Argentina 5
Goals scored: Netherlands 12, Argentina 8
Fouls committed: Netherlands 91, Argentina 54
Yellow cards: Netherlands 7, Argentina 5
Red cards: Netherlands 0, Argentina 0
16:20Argentina: Laboured to a 2-1 win over Bosnia in their opening game, scraped a 1-0 win over Iran in stoppage time and beat Nigeria 3-2 to finish top of Group F. Needed an extra-time goal in their last 16 match to beat Switzerland 1-0, then wrapped up their quarter-final against Belgium by the same scoreline.
16:05Netherlands: Opened their campaign with a 5-1 mauling of defending champions Spain before beating Australia 3-2 and Chile 2-0 to top Group B. They staged an astonishing fightback to beat Mexico 2-1 in the last 16, equalising with two minutes left on the clock before getting the winner via the penalty spot in stoppage time. Despite dominating Costa Rica in Saturday's quarter-final, the Netherlands needed a penalty shootout to secure a place in the semi-finals.
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15:45 Previous meetings: The teams have played each other eight times overall, with the Netherlands winning four, Argentina one and three draws.
World Cup meetings:
1974 Second round: Netherlands 4 Argentina 0
1978 Final: Argentina 3 Netherlands 1
1998 Quarter-finals: Netherlands 2 Argentina 1
2006 Group stage: Argentina 0 Netherlands 0##
15:30 Lionel Messi has scored four of Argentina's eight goals, while Dutch forwards Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie have each notched three.
With their 1-0 quarter-final win over Belgium, Argentina equalled their longest World Cup winning streak of five games. All five victories have been by one-goal margins.
15:00 There have been four previous meetings at the World Cup between the sides - the Netherlands winning two, Argentina one - in the '78 final - and one draw.
The Netherlands, with 12 goals, are joint top scorers in the 2014 tournament with Colombia, who have already been eliminated.
14:30 While Argentina have won the World Cup twice (1978, 1986), the Dutch are perennial underachievers in the tournament having reached three finals but coming away empty-handed each time (1974, 1978, 2010).
The teams met in the controversial 1978 final, which kicked off late after hosts Argentina objected to a plaster cast on the forearm of Dutch player Rene van de Kerkhof.
Argentina won the final 3-1 after extra time.
14:00 Probable teams:
Netherlands: 1-Jasper Cillessen; 3-Stefan de Vrij, 2-Ron Vlaar, 4-Bruno Martins Indi, 15-Dirk Kuyt, 5-Daley Blind; 11-Arjen Robben, 20-Georginio Wijnaldum, 10-Wesley Sneijder; 9-Robin van Persie, 21-Memphis Depay
Argentina: 1-Sergio Romero; 4-Pablo Zabaleta, 15-Martin Demichelis, 2-Ezequiel Garay, 16-Marcos Rojo; 14-Javier Mascherano, 6-Lucas Biglia, 8-Enzo Perez; 22-Ezequiel Lavezzi, 9-Gonzalo Higuain, 10-Lionel Messi
13:45 The teams have played each other eight times overall, with the Netherlands winning four, Argentina one and three draws
13:00 The Netherlands are one win away from a second straight World Cup final while opponents Argentina head into Wednesday's last-four clash looking to end their 24-year wait for a place in the biggest game of all
Venue:
Arena de Sao Paolo, Sao Paolo
Officials:
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey)
Assistants:Bahattin Duran (Turkey), Tarik Ongun (Turkey)
Fourth official: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
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