It was a match that put the greatest footballer in the world, Lionel Messi, directly in a confrontation against the greatest football coach in the world, Louis Van Gaal. While Messi is the undoubted leader of the Argentine attack, the one man who scores goals, makes assists, controls the play, Van Gaal is the Supreme Conductor of the Dutch Orchestra, the Dutch players having almost subsumed themselves to his will.
The result of the match, it was thought, would be decided either by Messi’s brilliance, or Van Gaal’s tactical genius. While the match was eventually decided in Argentina’s favor, and Messi would be the much happier of the two, fact remains that both the leaders of their respective sides weren’t at their best last night.
The entire contest, which lasted for an exhausting 120 minutes, was more of a chess game than a football match. The whole contest had each side feeling out the other, poking at each other to discover hidden weaknesses, matching strength for strength, completely canceling each other out. It was the most tiring battle of attrition that one would get to see in football. It would be a miracle if the winner of the match recovers fast enough for the final to be played only this Sunday.
While the match was one for those who love the highest level of strategy and tactical thinking in football, majority of football fans all over the world who were more interesting in seeing Lionel Messi work his famous magic would be feeling a tad disappointed. But there really was little Messi could do as he was effectively man marked by a fine defensive midfielder, Nigel de Jong, who was specifically sent on a “Stop Messi” mission by Louis Van Gaal. And on the few occasions that Messi did succeed in getting away from di Jong, he found himself being watched closely by the Aston Villa defender Ron Vlaar, who has the nickname, “Concrete”.
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And there was little that the hero of the last match against Belgium, Gonzalo Higuain could do either, with three Dutch defenders tailing his every move. Higuain did get two or three half-chances, which he failed to convert, but that was about it. While Argentine players huffed and puffed, there was little cutting edge to their attack, with the midfield general of Argentina, Javier Mascherano preferring to ignore Messi and send long diagonal passes to wingers Anzo Perez and Ezequiel Lavezzi. But neither Perez nor Lavezzi could provide that killer final pass to finish things off.
The Dutch were equally poor up front, with Robin Van Persie disappointing again. Van Persie has failed to shine for his side after his great performance in the opening game against Spain, and in this match too, he was largely peripheral to things. Arjen Robben tried gamely as usual, ran with the ball at every opportunity that was presented to him, but he was brilliantly man marked by the best player on the field on that night, Javier Mascherano. Mascherano put up one of the greatest displays by a defensive midfielder in World Cup history and was the undisputed player of the match. His goal saving tackle against Arjen Robben late in the second half of the extra time can only be described the one tackle that may eventually win Argentina the World Cup – which we will know for sure on July 13.
And so the 30 minutes of the extra time ended just as the regular 90 minutes of normal play. With no goals from either side, and we had another penalty shootout. Louis Van Gaal had got his tactics spot on so far, but had made one critical mistake. He had used up all his three substitutions and there no way that he could get Tim Krul to be the penalty shootout hero yet again for Holland, after winning the last one so memorably against Costa Rica. So it was all left to Jasper Cillessen, and Van Gaal could now only rely on luck as his last card.
But that was not to be. Ron Vlaar came to take the first penalty kick for Holland. Sergio Romero, the Argentine goalkeeper was fully psyched up. Vlaar is a solid defender, he is no goal scorer. Why he was picked to be the first penalty kick taker for Holland will remain an enduring mystery. He failed miserably, attempting a weak low shot, which Romero stopped to great delight from the Argentine bench.
Messi took the first penalty for Argentina, and converted comfortably – Messi is too good to fail on such important occasions. Robben converted the next penalty for Holland, and so did Garay for Argentina, literally smashing the ball into the net.
Now, it was Wesley Sneijder’s turn. Sneijder is normally a reliable penalty taker, and he did most things right, trying to smash the ball into the top corner of the Argentine net. But Romero was more than equal to the task, and pulled off a spectacular save by leaping to his right. 2 misses out of 3 for Dutch, and already they were staring at defeat.
Sergio Aguero calmly converted his kick, and so did Dirk Kuyt for Holland. It was now left to Maxi Rodriguez, one of the veterans of Argentine football. Rodriguez kept his composure, smashed the ball so hard that there was little that poor Jasper Cillessen could do, and Argentina had won the match!
This was followed by scenes of joyous celebrations by both the Argentine team and supporters, happy to have made it to their first final in a World Cup in 24 years. The Dutch players and supporters were disconsolate, but would be justifiably proud of their great effort.
Now Holland play the Brazilians in a playoff for the 3rd and 4th positions which nobody really wants. Argentina on the other hand, march on to Rio de Janiero, taking on Germany in the final of the World Cup 2014 on July 13 at the imposing Estadio Calderon.
