Regulation and extra time brought 120 minutes of scoreless exasperation in a World Cup semifinal on Wednesday that was by turns tense, cautious, clumsy, gripping and stubbornly unyielding.
There was little space to move, few chances to score. Sometimes the match was as dreary as the misty evening chill. If it possessed any beauty, it was not in gracefulness but in stark, struggling exertion.
And finally, when grind and strain and labor could not bring a resolution, whimsy and caprice did. Argentina defeated the Netherlands by 4-2 on penalty kicks and advanced to Sunday’s final against Germany.
Sergio Romero, Argentina’s goalkeeper, was poised in the shootout, unsettling the Dutch on the very first kick. He dived to his left, parried a shot by defender Ron Vlaar and kissed his gloves. Later, Romero repelled a shot by Wesley Sneijder and pounded his chest.
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Argentina fans held a banner before their team's semifinal match against the Netherlands on Wednesday in São Paulo.Open Source: Argentines Sing of Brazil’s Humiliation, Loudly and in RioJULY 9, 2014
For Argentina, Lionel Messi, Ezequiel Garay and Sergio Agüero confidently punched their shots into the net. The decisive attempt, by Maxi Rodríguez, was deflected, but it hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the net.
Messi took off in a jubilant, screaming run up the field, and Argentina reached the championship game for the first time since 1990. That long-ago night, even Diego Maradona could not find a way to beat West Germany. But that was forgotten on Wednesday as Argentine fans roared in delight and players removed their jerseys and twirled them in ecstasy.
“It’s luck, that’s the truth,” Romero said of the penalty kicks. “You can dive and not make it, like their goalkeeper did. I had confidence, and thank God things turned out well.”
The Netherlands led this World Cup with 12 goals, but its patient, counterattacking style produced nothing in the quarterfinals and semifinals after a late, desperate victory against Mexico in the Round of 16.
Twice, the Dutch were taken to the chance of penalty kicks. In Saturday’s quarterfinal against Costa Rica, Coach Louis van Gaal made a shrewd move, bringing on the reserve goalkeeper Tim Krul for the shootout. On Wednesday, though, van Gaal had already used his three substitutions, so he was forced to stay with Jasper Cillessen, who did not possess Krul’s reach or effective reaction
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