Netherlands v Uruguay, 06 July 2010

Kick-Off: 20:30 Local (19:30 BST) Man of the Match: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) Assistant referees: Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan) Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan) Fourth official: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan) Fifth official: Toru Sagara (Japan) The Netherlands won the match 3–2, thereby qualifying for the final for the first time since the 1978 World Cup. Uruguay adopted a defensive posture early in the match, but were only able to hold their opponents scoreless for 18 minutes, when Dutch captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored from 35 yards into the top right corner of the goal. However, the Netherlands were unable to capitalise on their lead, as Diego Forlán equalised in the 41st minute (1–1) when his shot from 25 yards hit squarely in the middle of the goal was misjudged by goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg who missed it by millimeters. The Netherlands regained the lead in the second half, as a pass from van der Vaart reached Sneijder who dished it into the side of the goal as Muslera dived and missed it by inches. Then, three minutes later, Kuyt crossed to Robben who headed it into the goal to make it 3–1. The Netherlands suffered a late scare when Maxi Pereira, who failed a penalty against Ghana, scored in stoppage time from a free kick; however, the score remained 3–2 despite desperate Uruguayan attempts to equalise. After the match, Uruguay coach Óscar Tabárez spoke of his pride in his team for reaching the semi-finals.