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| *Romero saved two penalties |
Sao Paulo: If the Brazil v Germany semi-final was a
magical, illogical and inexplicable display of how football can deliver
the completely unexpected, then Argentina's clash with The Netherlands
reverted back to football's norm.
It was tight, it was tactical. No quarter was asked, nor none
given. Few chances were made, none accepted, and defenders were the
game's stand out performers.
In those circumstances it was hardly surprising that it went to
penalties. Argentina kept their nerve, The Netherlands didn't and now
the men in light blue and white progress to Sunday's (Monday AEST) final
in Rio against the Germans, a repeat of the 1990 decider when the then
West Germany were successful. So Lionel Messi gets the chance to emulate
two of the other greats of the world game, his countryman Diego
Maradona and Brazil's Pele, and lead them to a world title.
You have to have regular games, matches in which the script
plays out roughly as expected, to make encounters like Germany and
Brazil stand out for their drama and sheer unbelievable quality.
This was never going to be like the goings on in Belo
Horizonte 24 hours earlier. Even the grey, lowering skies that settled
over Sao Paulo from the early afternoon onwards were a harbinger of
gloom.
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