FIFA World Cup: Argentina v. Netherlands (Semifinals) - July 9, 2014 [R]

Argentina vs Netherlands

Argentina Match 62 Netherlands
9 July 2014
17:00 UTC−3 ( 1:00 PM PST / 4:00 PM EST)



Arena de São Paulo, São Paulo (62,601 Capacity)

- Same stadium in which we defeated Switzerland in R16 -



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Unlike in any other point in the tournament so far, Argentina actually arrives to this match trailing in head-to-head statistics.

Head-to-Head Statistics:

- Matches Played: 8
- 1 Argentina win, 4 Holland wins, 3 draws
- 6 goals for Argentina, 13 goals for Holland

Argentina and Netherlands have met on four occasions in the past at the FIFA World Cup.

Of those 4 times, Argentina has only managed to win once. However, it was the most important of the four encounters, as the winner of that match would be keeping the World Cup trophy.

On June 25, 1978, in a packed Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina, la albiceleste took on Netherlands in the final of the '78 World Cup.

Full game highlights:



Argentina was playing a World Cup final for the second time in history and looking to win the tournament for the first time. Things seemed to be going well halfway in, as Argentina had found the lead on the 37th minute thanks to Mario Kempes, making the home crowd wild.

When everybody was preparing to celebrate, substitute Dick Nanninga equalized the match for Holland in the 82nd minute -- reviving World Cup hopes for the Dutch and sending the match to an extra time period of 30 minutes.

Fortunately, Argentina were able to recover from the late goal and take back the lead, first with another goal from Kempes (105') and then with a 115th goal by Daniel Bertoni.

Both of Kempes's goals that night:



The victory not only meant the first ever World Cup title for Argentina, but also a nice revenge against the Dutch, who had defeated (and virtually eliminated) Argentina from the 1974 World Cup four years earlier.

Led by the brilliant Johan Cruyff, Netherlands defeated Argentina by 4-0 in the Second Round of the cup. The defeat was a heavy blow for Argentina, who wouldn't make it past that stage, while the Dutch would go on to play (and lose) the final.



Another historic World Cup encounter featuring both teams took place in the 1998 World Cup in France.

Holland took an early lead in the 12th minute of the match thanks to Patrick Kluivert, although Argentina had a near-immediate response through Claudio Lopez's equalizer just 5 minutes later.



The match remained tied with only a few minutes remaining and appeared destined for extra time, until two dark moments in Argentina WC history occurred late in the game.

First -in the 87th minute- Argentine star Ariel Ortega received a red card for infamously headbutting Holland GK Edward Van der Sar



Three minutes later, Dennis Bergkamp would score a late goal in stoppage time to dramatically send Argentina home and Netherlands to the semifinals (which they would eventually lose on penalties to Brazil).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsZkCFoqSBs

 

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The last and final time Argentina and Netherlands would meet at the FIFA World Cup would be on June 21, 2006 for the final match of Group C in the 2006 World Cup.

With both teams practically already qualified to the second round, Jose Pekerman -Argentine NT coach at the time- decided to field an alternative side, playing many starters but also resting some key players.

8 of the players featured in this match will be available to start on Wednesday's semifinal.

Lionel Messi -at the time only 18 years old- got his first and only start of the tournament, before being subbed out in the 70th minute. Maxi Rodriguez and Javier Mascherano are two other players from our current squad that also started that day, while Rodrigo Palacio saw the match from the bench.

On Netherlands' side, the only three current players that started that day were Dirk Kuyt, Wesley Sneijder, and Robin Van Persie, while Arjen Robben was an unused substitute.

The match itself wasn't anything spectacular and ended 0-0:



Outside of the World Cup, the two sides have met on 4 occasions, with Argentina failing to leave victorious in any of the games.

The four matches, all held on European soil, finished with the following results:

- May 26, 1974: Netherlands 4 - 1 Argentina
- May 22, 1979: Netherlands 0 - 0 Argentina
- March 3, 1999: Netherlands 1 - 1 Argentina
- February 12, 2003: Netherlands 1 - 0 Argentina

As for non-FIFA matches, Argentina defeated Holland on August 16, 2008 in the most recent faceoff.

The match took place for the Quarterfinals of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and had an Argentina that featured many of the current squad's players (Romero -sub, but actually came off the bench that game, Garay, Zabaleta, Gago, Mascherano, Di Maria, Messi, Aguero).

Lionel Messi opened the game early in the first half for Argentina with a 14th minute goal, although Otman Bakkal would tie it for Netherlands in the 36th minute.

The match would go on to a 30 minute period of extra time in which Argentina would find the lead in the 105th minute thanks to Di Maria -- a vital goal which allowed Argentina to progress to the next round and eventually take the gold.

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Arrival to Quarterfinals
Argentina (1st in Group F) - 5 wins, 0 losses, 0 draws - 8 goals for, 3 against
2-1 W v. Bosnia
1-0 W v. Iran
3-2 W v. Nigeria
1-0 (ET) W v. Switzerland (R16)
1-0 W v. Belgium (QF)

Top Scorer: Messi (4 goals)

Holland(1st in Group B) - 4 wins, 0 losses, 1 draw - 12 goals for, 4 against
5-1 W v. Spain
3-2 W v. Australia
2-0 W v. Chile
2-1 W v. Mexico (R16)
0-0 D v. Costa Rica (5-4 PK W) (QF)

Top Scorer: Arjen Robben and Robbie Van Persie (3 goals each)

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Holland Statistics



2014 World Cup Qualification
9 wins, 0 losses, 1 draw -- 34 goals for, 5 against

- Best Record of All European teams in qualifying
- Had top scorer of all the UEFA Qualifiers (Robin van Persie - 11 goals)
- Second top "Goals For" record in UEFA qualifiers; Best "Goal Difference"

2012 UEFA Euro Cup
0 wins, 3 losses, 0 draws -- 2 goals for, 5 against

- Eliminated in Group Stage (finished 3rd in Group A Euro Cup qualification, behind Germany and Turkey)
- Finished 4th in Group B, behind Germany, Portugal, and Norway.


FIFA Ranking (for whatever it's worth): 15th



General World Cup Stats
Total Number of Participations: 10
Best Performance: Runner-ups (2nd place) - 1974, 1978 (lost to Argentina), and 2010

Match Wins: 26
Match Losses: 11
Match Draws: 10

 

Man.. what a feeling to know that we are just one step away from the FINAL of the World Cup.. (!!!) Time to step it up and break the curse.

Our to do list before the start of the competition in June:
1) Messi to score in WC - DONE
2) Get past quarterfinals - DONE

Now to do step 3. No need for me to say what it is!