The World Cup semi-finals are done, and it’s time to give you our take on it all.
Uruguay 2-3 The Netherlands
The final score doesn’t really reflect what happened in the pitch, but it does a long way in showing why Uruguay made it so far in the competition. Holland opened the scoreline with what is the best goal in this World Cup so far, signed by Van Bronckhorst. It was a festival of Dutch possession in the first half, with Uruguay not being able to mount much of an offense. But when Diego Forlan got an inch of space, he got that equalizer.
The second half saw the Dutch increase their advantage to 3-1, and the Dutch midfield got a lot more solid and creative with Van der Vaart in the fray. De Zeeuw, who he substitued, was having a fine, although discrete, match, but had to come off as his performance dropped noticeably due to having suffered a massive facial trauma when Caceres tried an insane bicycle kick from outside the are and hit him square in the mouth. When the Dutch started clearly playing slower, probably with their minds on Sunday’s final, Uruguay pushed forward and got a goal back by Maxi Pereira.
The Dutch deserved the win, and Uruguay has a lot to be proud about.
Spain 1-0 Germany
We talked about how Spain hadn’t really shown convincing football in this World Cup, but we also said that if they keep winning that will be convincing enough. Both of those things happened.
This match, it must be said, was not worthy of a semi-final. The Germans had a clear strategy of letting the Spanish tire out and then get them in the counter, much like Portugal did. But just like Portugal, a Spanish goal sent that strategy flying out of the window. And this time it was a set piece. In the end, Spain did provide the most scoring opportunities, and there’s no contest to their win. It’s just not as “dramatic” and unforgettable” as the Spanish press would have us believe.
