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Cillessen indeed got a palm on Maxi Rodriguez’s determining mark kick, though a round shot adult into a tip of a net anyway, promulgation a Argentines through.
Penalties are, of course, a cruelest approach to go.
“In a end,’’ despaired Vlaar, “you mount here with your hands empty. It hurts so much. Our dream has burst.’’
“It is a many terrible approach to lose,’’ echoed Van Gaal, who now moves to Manchester to start his high-profile journey with United. “It’s simply a matter of luck. We did not remove today. We’ve played a illusory tournament. No one approaching us to make it out of a organisation stage, though we won it. We degraded Mexico and Costa Rica.
“And during a unequivocally slightest we were equal to Argentina. If not better.’’
The pre-match headliners — Messi and Dutch conductor Arjen Robben — were incompetent to beget any sparkle whatsoever.
Messi kept using face initial into a ominous Oranje section wall. For all his juking and jiving, Robben could conjure zero wilful for a Netherlands.
And so a dual nations marched grimly on, both refusing to behind down or nudge an inch.
During additional time, a Argentines indeed generated a integrate peculiarity chances, a singular thing in this match.
Rodrigo Palacio unequivocally should’ve beaten a spike in a Netherlands’ coffin in a 115th minute, though instead of aggressive a ball, he wrongly popped a header on net that never uneasy Cillessen.
Shortly after, Messi went on his usually heading run, slicing past Ezequiel Garay and smoothly chipping behind usually to watch Rodriguez limply rebound a bombardment into a arms of a goalkeeper.
Through 90 claustrophobic mins any group combined one half-chance. One.
A poetic acid round from Enzo Perez was side-footed off a side-netting by Gonzalo Higuain for Argentina. Mascherano went full widen to get a toe on a dangerous possibility from Robben, who had danced by defenders after usurpation a crafty Dirk Kuyt pass.
Other than that …
Not that you’ll hear a masses of confused Argentina fans — or a diminutive male station expectantly during a large gates of football’s Olympus — complaining.