Robben Reliance Drives Oranje to Final

Holland 3 Uruguay 2



At Green Point Stadium, within a stone's throw of Cape Town's infamous Robben Island prison, how appropriate that it should be Arjen Robben who slammed the door on Uruguay's World Cup dream.


This campaign has been the polar opposite of Holland's Euro 2008, where the Dutch blitzed past Italy and France before coming unstuck against the Russians in the quarter final. In South Africa they have reached the final, but have not played that well getting there – this was certainly true against Uruguay.



When you think about Dutch football, you think of a team of great individuals. There is a feeling, however, that these individuals are just that – people who play for themselves and not for the team. Bert Van Mawijk has bravely attempted to change this ideology, where individuals sacrifice their egos for the good of the team. How symbolic that the iconic number 14 shirt is worn by the limited spoiler Demy De Zeeuw at this tournament.



Back home, Van Marwijk's compatriots are proud that the Oranje play football the right way and it'll be interesting to see how they react to their team if they don't lift the World Cup. They are often regarded as 'Europe's Brazil' and we all saw what happened to Dunga after the Brazilians went out at the quarter-final stage.

Against Uruguay, it was the man who most obviously represents the new selflessness of Holland that made the first mark. Van Bronkhurst, taking advantage of space created by a Uruguayan defence tightly marking Robben, let fly from 35 yards with a screamer which flew in off the post.



1 – 0 Holland, but they didn't seize the initiative and when Uruguay levelled it was a fair reflection of how the game had gone.



Forlan showed in the previous game against Ghana the vicious swerve he could get on the ball - he was at it again here. Some have claimed, unfairly in my eyes, that the keeper should have done better. I put it down to the fact that no one in the world can strike a ball as sweetly as Diego at the moment. To score against the Dutch was one better than his father did – he was part of the national team that lost 2 – 0 to Holland in 1974.



Van Marwijk made a crucial change at half time, replacing De Zeeuw with the more forward-thinking Van der Vaart. Playing with two defensive midfielders, Holland had looked very ordinary, especially given Dirk Kuyt's limited threat.



Robin Van Persie has worked tirelessly on his own upfront in this tournament. Some may say that he hasn't scored enough goals, but that misses the point. His role has been to pull defenders out of position and hold the ball up, to the benefit of his team-mates. In the 68^th minute he plucked the ball out of the air beautifully before laying on a great chance to Van der Vaart, whose shot was saved.



Ultimately, the Oranje's greater attacking threat broke down Uruguay's resistance. They conceded two goals in four minutes, firstly through Sneijder – the fifth of the tournament for Holland's Golden Boy – then through that man Robben.



Kuyt crossed from the left and Robben scored with a header that Alan Shearer would have been proud of. What makes Robben so entertaining to watch is his total belief in his own ability – similarly to Cristiano Ronaldo, he genuinely believes he can do anything. . And usually he does.


Robben exited the field of play with a minute on the clock. The huge smile on his face, the high fives with his team-mates, made no secret of his feeling that his team had made the World Cup final. He reckoned against Uruguay's 'Garra Charrua', their quality of giving everything against all odds. Perreira scored a minute into injury time and threatened to score an equaliser, but even for the Uruguayans it was too much.

So Holland return to the World Cup final for the first time since 1978. They are my 'second team' and I hope they go and win it, but Van Marwijk will have to learn from this game if they are to lift the trophy. Against Uruguay, they were too defensive and looked ordinary as a result.



My advice. Van Bommel – he can only be in the side because the coach is his father-in-law - should be replaced by Nigel de Jong. And Eljero Elia must be a greater threat than Dirk Kuyt.



My hunch, though, is that the winner will come from the Spain vs. Germany game.