Sao Paulo, Jul 11: Master tactician Louis van Gaal was left to rue one of his moves as Argentina defeated his team, the Netherlands, in a penalty shoot-out to set up a final clash with Germany in the World Cup on Wednesday.
Van Gaal’s Dutchmen were thwarted by Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero, saving two spot-kicks as the South Americans won 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw in the second semifinal.
Van Gaal knows Romero pretty well, having brought the Argentinian to Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in 2007 when he was the coach there. “The penalty series is always a matter of luck,” the Dutch coach said, adding, “And, of course, I taught Romero how to stop penalties so that hurts.”
Van Gaal had famously brought in Tim Krul as substitute goalkeeper in the quarterfinals against Costa Rica, helping his team to advance in a penalty shoot-out. But on Wednesday, he didn’t have that option, having used up all his three substitutes earlier in the match.
Jasper Cillessen had never saved a penalty in his professional career and he failed to stop all four spot-kicks, sending Argentina into the final after Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder’s efforts were saved. “If I had had the opportunity to substitute Jasper, I would have done that but I had already used three substitutes so I couldn’t do that,” the Dutch coach told reporters.
With Argentina going through, it will be a repeat of the 1986 and 1990 finals on Sunday. Argentina had defeated Germany in the 1986 final, while Germany won the World Cup for the third time in 1990, beating Argentina in the final.
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