Home   >   MOTDs   >   WC MOTD: Late Goals See Netherlands Through To Quarterfinals

WC MOTD: Late Goals See Netherlands Through To Quarterfinals

By on June 29, 2014

Two last-gasp goals from Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar were enough for the Netherlands to seal their progress through to the World Cup quarter-finals at the expense of the unfortunate Mexico. The Mexicans had led thanks to a thunderous strike from Villarreal forward Giovani dos Santos, but Sneijder’s volley from a corner and Huntelaar’s late volley saw the Oranje through to the next stage. Mexico missed out on the quarter-finals for the sixth tournament in a row, but Louis Van Gaal will fancy his chances of making the semi-finals with underdogs Costa Rica or Greece standing in their way.

Holland were perhaps not as buccaneering as they were in previous matches, relying almost solely on the pace and trickery of Arjen Robben to create chances. At times, the Oranje seemed to be playing with almost a back seven, but Mexico started brightly. Hector Herrera did not quite make enough contact on the ball when shooting from the middle of the penalty area and his early shot grazed the post, but both sides could potentially have had penalties. Robben was felled in the box, and a Mexico player found himself kicked in the side of the head just inside the area – both could have been given, yet there was a sense of ‘the boy who cried wolf’ with serial diver Robben.

In the sweltering heat, up to 38 degrees Celsius on the pitch – causing many fans in sunny areas to flee to cooler parts of the Estádio Castelão in Fortaleza – the first half saw the tournament’s first agreed drinks break, which did much to revive the spirits of the groggy players but did not help the slow pace of the match. Even without allegations of bribery surrounding their successful World Cup bid, it brings up serious questions about the heat in Qatar eight years from now. Nigel De Jong was taken off injured and Robben saw a shot blocked in stoppage time, but the sides went in goalless at half time.

However, there was nothing the Dutch could do to stop the game’s first moment of real quality, just three minutes into the second half. An Oribe Peralta flick-on was seized upon by dos Santos, who ran diagonally towards the box before unleashing a wicked half-volley into the bottom-right corner. Under pressure from Daley Blind, the former Spurs man ignited the crowd and the game, with Mexico piling on a spell of further pressure in the following minutes. The Netherlands were under the cosh, and would have to bring Robben and Robin van Persie into the game more if they were going to claw their way back in.

Yet Mexico began to falter, and Wesley Sneijder powered a free kick into the wall before Blind volleyed well wide; there was no sign of either side wilting in the tremendous heat. PSV wonderkind Memphis Depay was introduced into the action, but just seconds later, Mexico’s keeper Guillermo Ochoa had another incredible save to add to his collection for the tournament, this time keeping out Stefan De Vrij’s volley at point-blank range from a corner. Soon after Javier Aquino’s delicious through ball to Peralta came to nothing, despite the ball finding the back of the net – the forward was fractionally offside. The ineffectual van Persie was then replaced by Huntelaar with the Dutch trying to make the most of their aerial advantage from set-pieces.

The Schalke forward drew another wonderful save from Ochoa with five minutes to go, but it counted for nothing as the linesman’s flag was up. Substitute Javier Hernandez almost capitalized on the counter-attack moments later, but could not beat the last defender. But, there was agony for Mexico in the final minutes as a corner was only half cleared and fell beautifully for Sneijder at the edge of the box – his half volley was dispatched with aplomb into the bottom left corner of the net.

Just moments later, things went from bad to worse for Mexico. In the second minute of stoppage time, Robben jinked down the right for one final time, cutting back at the border of the six-yard box and being tripped by a desperate lunge from Rafa Marquez. Huntelaar stepped up to take the result spot-kick and, despite a lengthy wait and the brilliance of Ochoa, he kept his nerve to send the keeper the wrong way and power the ball hard and low to the left. Mexico’s hearts were broken, and the Dutch held on through the remaining six minutes of stoppage time to book their place in the quarterfinals.

About Sam France

17-year-old aspiring sports journalist and Middlesbrough fan. Check out my personal football blog at sjfootball97.blogspot.com! *warning* Some posts may include mild sarcasm.