SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - Dutch fans ecstatic after semi-final win

Record ID: 456093

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - Dutch fans ecstatic after semi-final win
  • Date: 7th July 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) URUGUAY SUPPORTER, ROLAND LIEBENTRITT SAYING: "It was a pity that they lost, it was a good game. Unfortunately, they didn't make it in the end, but otherwise, it was super. And they started actually too late, Uruguay started too late. Uruguay! Uruguay! Uruguay!" HOLLAND SUPPORTERS WEARING ORANGE POLICEMAN WATCHING AS FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS LEAVE STADIUM MAN WITH 'HOLLAND' ROAD SIGN ON HIS HEAD
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA5AFFREGSKRC0K67BECN66U28X
  • Story Text: Holland took a giant step on Tuesday (July 6) towards the World Cup trophy that eluded their great sides of the past by defeating South America's sole survivor Uruguay 3-2 in the first semi-final.
    Seeking to erase painful memories of two World Cup final defeats in 1974 and 1978, the Dutch will now face Germany or Spain on Sunday at Johannesburg's Soccer City.
    "It is so very special and as a small country we can be so proud," said coach Bert van Marwijk after Holland's 14th consecutive World Cup win including qualifiers.
    The result means a European team is guaranteed to lift soccer's greatest prize for the first time on foreign soil.
    It also means South American dominance at the start of the tournament -- when big names like Italy, France and England were falling -- has reverted back in favour of Europe.
    Uruguay's coach and former schoolteacher Oscar Tabarez, nicknamed "El Maestro" (The Teacher), calmly congratulated the Dutch. "We went very far, no one expected it, so that helps the sadness of the defeat," he said.
    Two of the tournament's best goals graced the first half in front of more than 62,000 people in the magnificent Green Point stadium in Cape Town.
    First, Giovanni van Bronckhorst smashed home a 30-metre shot out of the blue, before Diego Forlan equalised for Uruguay with another spectacular long-range strike.
    In the second half, Holland ran ahead 3-1 through goals from Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben. Uruguay's Maximiliano Pereira snatched one back in extra-time, but it was too late for the South Americans, playing in a first semi-final since 1970.
    The Dutch players, who won every game en route to the final, hugged and jumped for joy at the final whistle, as did their hordes of orange-clad fans, some wearing clogs.
    The Uruguayans looked downcast, knowing they had lost the chance to repeat past glories for their nation of just 3.5 million people which won the World Cup in 1930 and 1950.
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