Day 23:

Netherlands vs. Argentina: Part 2:-





Argentina were ever reliant on counter-attacks; but they were incapable of utilizing them properly as their lack of a support striker behind Higuaín really killed their offensive approach.

They continuously opted to go wide whenever they went forward, and also continuously sent wayward passes and/or crosses across the opposition’s final third.

Neither team was taking any risks as the half slowly came to an end, with both sides still defending deep and not committing many bodies forward.

Holland showed real intent to win the game with their substitutions and tactical changes; but somehow retreated into their own half slowly and became subdued in their attacking approach.

Meanwhile, Argentina looked to inject more attacking potential into their team with the clock ticking down.

At the end of normal time, it isn’t ludicrous to say that the Netherlands attacked more in the second half and had one or two proper chances at scoring that elusive goal; however, their lack of urgency as the game moved on, coupled with some poor passing and Van Persie's below-average positional play, all hindered their chances going forward.

In comparison, Argentina continued playing with a defensive mindset for the rest of the game; refusing to commit too many players in attack and continuously shifting play out wide.

In the opposition’s final third, their inability to hold onto possession, and the lack of support Higuaín received (in addition to his own slightly average performance) made sure that they were not really going to cause the Dutch many problems at the back.

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The first half of extra time inherited the recurring theme from the first 90 minutes; namely, Holland reverting to playing mostly on the break, while Argentina being seemingly short of genuine ideas going forward.

Both teams’ late offensive substitutions signaled that they were trying to go for a win, with Argentina now seeing more of the ball, but unable to deliver that final pass in the box (a lack of mere physical presence inside!).

The Netherlands, meanwhile, were looking to focus more on physical forward play and delivering aerial balls from out wide.

It was a display of “doses” of offensive movements from either side as neither was able to break the opposition’s defense with a correct final touch in and around the box.

Admittedly, the Argentineans were now attacking from more central areas, but still had difficulties getting behind Holland’s stable backline.

The second half of extra time did not witness a drastic change in the way things had been going so far.

However, Argentina injected a final “boost” of attacking vigor into their game, but wasted two glorious chances in front of goal; mainly due to a shortage of technical abilities at a specific time and place on the pitch, while fatigue also played its role too.

Neither team really invested too much in terms of carving-out a win so a draw after 120 minutes was a fair result for both sides.

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Argentina put-in a great defensive performance (probably one of their best over the last decade), and have a lot of positives to which they can look forward in terms of stability at the back.

In attack, they were largely subdued and, given the nature of how Messi was completely marked-out, missed a true element of creativity in midfield (think Di Maria!).

The good news for them is that they are in their first WC final for over 24 years, and now have a genuine chance at career-defining (for some players) glory!


Following the result of the penalty kicks, it is rather unfortunate for the Netherlands to exit the WC in such a fashion. They played some great games in the group-stage and, apart from the first 80 minutes or so against Mexico, were fully deserving of a place in the final.

The great tactical nous from their coaching staff saw them rise to each challenge they faced; even though, for the most part, that they had a fairly inexperienced and young squad who have not been tested at such a big stage before.

They took their infamous “total football” to a whole new level as they maneuvered their way through many obstacles and were unlucky not to be rewarded at the end of it all.

Nevertheless, they leave the competition with no reason NOT to hold their heads high after some scintillating performances (a lot of credit to Robben, Sneijder, Vlaar and Van Persie), and they will surely be missed in Rio on the 13th of July 2014.


Man of the match: Javier Mascherano: He was absolutely phenomenal all over the pitch, while also rescuing his team-mates time and again with some sharply-timed tackles and clearances.



Honorable mention: Ron Vlaar: The Aston Villa captain also had a great game (apart from the PK miss!) and it's truly sad to see him on the losing end of it all!

Day 23:

Netherlands vs. Argentina: Part 1:-





A WC semi-final of which many people will not have fond memories as both teams cancelled each other out in almost all areas of the pitch.


Coach Louis van Gaal opted for a defensive 3-5-2 formation, with 2 DMs to further enhance the siege around Lionel Messi at the back.

On the other hand, Coach Alehjandro Sabella set-up his team with a 4-3-3/4-3-1-2 lay-out; choosing to deploy 3 central (defensive) midfielders, with Messi in a CF role behind 2 strikers (more like 1 true striker!).


The Dutch began the match by defending deeper than Argentina for the most part; looking to send long aerial balls (diagonal and vertical) over Argentina’s backline à la vs. Spain in the group-stage.

The Argentineans were playing a tad higher up the pitch, and were looking to slowly build their attacks from the back; as they were more in control of the ball. Messi, as expected, was being tightly marked by around 3 players (sometimes even 4!) wherever he went!

The Netherlands had a tough time taking their game into 2nd gear in terms of quick counter-attacking play for large parts of the first half; but they were doing a good job at the back by efficiently minimizing Argentina’s attacking threat.

Coach Sabella’s team were exposing Holland’s lack of width in defense, but they were unable to deliver the proper passes and crosses into the box from which Gonzalo Higuaín could benefit. To be fair, the Napoli forward was not getting into the right positions himself in the final third!

There weren’t many spaces opening up in either team’s half as both sides were playing with extreme caution and defensive tactical discipline.

Argentina were seen drifting play out wide more often than not, and were clearly in need of more support from their central players as Messi was being absolutely silenced in terms of his darting runs through the middle.

The Dutch seemed unable to launch any proper attack in between Argentina’s defensive lines and should have pulled the opposition CBs/DMs more towards the center, in an attempt to free some channels at the back.

All in all, it was a very tight tactical half from both teams, with Argentina enjoying more ball possession and able to create more chances than the Netherlands.

The Argentineans, however, shifted play out to the flanks way too many times, and their lack of a true 2nd striker (Lavezzi is no striker!), alongside Higuaín, limited the physical presence in the opposition’s box.

They defended well though, and did not make many mistakes in midfield either; but they needed an extra element of central play from their main CMs.

Holland weren’t able to create any real chances from open play as their strategy of sending long aerial balls over Argentina’s backline did not work as their coach might have hoped.

Moreover, the trio of Sneijder, Robben and Van Persie were largely subdued in attack due to an enhanced focus on defensive duties from their coaching staff. They were in dire need of more urgency going forward and an increased dose of creativity from the middle of the park.

Defensively, the Dutch played a very compact and organized game (Vlaar being especially excellent) and were doing an impressive job in nullifying and frustrating Messi!

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The second half saw Coach Van Gaal switch to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation as he replaced Martins Indi with Janmaat.

It may be that such a change was an obligatory one due to Indi’s yellow card late in the 1st half; as Coach Van Gaal might have feared losing a player due to Indi’s inexperience at such a big stage.

Janmaat was now playing in the LB role, Daley Blind switching back from RM/RWB to RB, Kuyt moving to LW and Robben playing opposite to him in the RW position.

It was a variation which was supposed to offer the Netherlands much more offensive width and cover up the lack of defensive width at the back.

Holland’s tactical changes didn't require too much time to come into effect as the Dutch started to attack more and press Argentina higher up the pitch.

The Dutch were clearly going for the win as they pushed play even further forward and committed more bodies in attack. They were, however, still lacking a cutting-edge pass or two in the final third, while also being not urgent enough in some areas of the pitch.

Argentina seemed totally subdued in attack and were having difficulties retaining possession for a long enough period of time.

For all the extra physical presence that the Netherlands added to their offensive game in the second half, they were still unable to impose themselves in attack; lacking clear urgency in their forward momentum and seemingly unable to get proper passes through...