Live: Argentina v Netherlands

Argentina win 4-2 on penalties!

Maxi up next for ARG. If he scores Argentina go through to the final!
GOAL! ARGENTINA WIN! IT’S 4-2.
Maxi hits it to the left. Cillissen goes the same way but can only push the ball back up onto the crossbar and into the net!

Kuyt takes for NED.
Kuyt SCORES to keep NED in it.
ARG 3 - 2

Aguero takes the third
GOAL! Cillissen went the right way but Aguero pushes it through on the left.
ARG 3 - 1 NED

Snjeider take the third.
WHAT A SAVE BY ROMERO! He goes to the left and so does Snjeider and he makes a great save!
STILL: ARG 2 - 1 NED

Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez shots the match deciding penalty in their semi-finals against Netherlands. Reuters

Garay takes number two for ARG.

GOAL!

Garay smashes it high and hard straight down the middle.

ARG 2 - 1 NED

Robben takes the second for NED.

GOAL!

Romero goes left, Robben goes right.

ARG 1 - 1 NED

Messi takes the first for ARG.

GOAL!

Messi shoots to the left, Clissen goes to the right.

ARG 1 - 0 NED

Vlaar takes the first for NED.

SAVE!

Vlaar goes to the right. Romero dives the right way and saves it!

The penalty shoot-out gets underway

Full Time of Extra-time

Argentina's Lionel Messi shoots to score his penalty past Jasper Cillessen of the Netherlands during their shootout in their semi-finals. Reuters

120+2

'   Kuyt has a shot blocked and for a moment it looks like it could float past Romero but it's wide and ARG clear. Seconds from penalties now.

120+1'   One minute added before penalties.

119'        Mascherano makes another good tackle on Robben to keep him from squaring the ball to Huntelaar.

One minute to play and the Dutch are monopolizing possession.

117'        Messi gets to the byline and picks out Maxi on the back post but his volley is mishit and saved.

116'        GREAT CHANCE FOR ARGENTINA! Maxi Rodriguez sends it high for Palacio, who finds himself in a 1-on-1 situation with the keeper but the header is straight at Clissen, who gathered with great reflex.

110'        De Vrij tried his luck from 40 out but it's wide.

110'        Pablo Zabaleta comes back onto the field.

109'        Zabaleta is off the field right now getting treatment for what looks like a cut on his lower lip.

107'        Dutch midfielder Kuyt crashes straight into Zabaleta, who hits the deck and stays down.

106'        The second period is underway.

End of first period Extra-time

105+2'   Referee blows the whistle for end of the first period.

105+1'   Palacio puts a GREAT cross into that the striker's temperate zone between the keeper and the backline. Aguero has a goal on a plate, but he isn't level with the last defender and can't get to the ball.

Argentina's Sergio Romero (front) saves the penalty of Ron Vlaar of the Netherlands during their shootout in their semi-finals. Reuters

105+1

'   One minute added to the first period of extra-time.

105'        Netherlands booking. Huntelaar cautioned with a yellow for bringing down Mashcherano.

101'        Argentina substitution: Lavezzi off, Maxi Rodriguez on.

99'          ROBBEN! Fires on target from outside the box! But goes straight at Romero.

97'          Netherlands dominating after restart so far.

95'          Dutch sub: Van Persie is replaced by Huntelaar.

91'          the first half of extra time is underway

Full Time

90+3'     FULL TIME WHISTLE! Into the seemingly inevitable extra time we go.

90+2'     Snjeider's corner is cleared once and then his ball back in is punched away by Romero.

90+1'     MASCHERANO KEEPS ARGENTINA IN THE GAME! Robben charges into the left side of the Argentina box and is almost through on goal when the Argentinian puts in an amazing tackle to put the ball out for a corner. Last second tackle!

90+1'     The fourth official shows there are three minutes of time to be added.

87'          Argentina get into the Dutch box through Messi. His pass finds Aguero but his attempt to put the ball back in the center is blocked away.

Argentina's Rodrigo Palacio (2nd R) has his shot blocked by goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen of the Netherlands during extra time in their semi-finals. Reuters

85

'          Five minutes of the regular 90 to play. Robben against Demichelis wins a corner on the left. Snjeider takes it and Rojo heads it clear. Lavezzi tries to break and Clasie steps up and boots it out for a goal kick.

84'          At the other end, Rojo drills a shot straight at Cillissen.

84'          Robben collects a throw in from Kuyt and combines with his teammate to find some space on the left. He puts in a driven cross but there's no one near it. Romero collects easily.

82'          Argentina subs: Arguero and Palacio on; Perez and Higuain off.

75'          HIGUIAN SIDE NETTING! Perez sent in a GREAT ball from the wide right and it beats Higuain's marker. The forward pokes at it with high right foot but it goes just wide. The game is still deadlocked!

74'          Van Persie, inside the Argentine box, tries to volley a cross from Janmaat, but the linesman has already raised the flag for an offside. Netherlands have been better in the last ten minutes or so.

Jasper Cillessen of the Netherlands (C) makes a save on Argentina's Rodrigo Palacio's header in extra time during their semi-finals. Reuters

71

'          Rojo away on the left-hand side and sends it back to Lavezzi. He cuts inside the box to shoot and it’s blocked by Vlaar.

68'          Blind just played perhaps the worst pass under no pressure we've seen in this World Cup. He's just squaring the ball to his centerback from the left side of the field and ends up kicking it out of bounds on the right.

65'          Biglia gets treatment after that clash with Janmaat. He comes back on wearing a bandage on his wrist and forearm.

62'          Dutch substitution: Nigel De Jong off, Jordy Clasie on.

61'          Janmaat commits a foul on Biglia as he drives at the Argentina defense. The Dutchman pulled his studs back just in time to avoid a yellow or perhaps red card.

58'          Zabaleta plays a good ball for Lavezzi to run onto on the right. He crosses it for Higuain but Janmaat gets enough of a challenge on the Argentinian forward to keep him from getting clean, accurate contact on the ball. That was almost a chance!

Argentina's Mascherano deflects a shot by Robben of the Netherlands during their semi-finals. Reuters

52

'          Rojo squares it Messi, who tries to cut to the left of Vlaar and was looking to shoot. Vlaar makes an excellent tackle, but the sight of Messi dribbling at pace at central defenders 25 yards out is not what the Dutch want to see.

51'          MESSI! OFFSIDE! Mascherano releases Messi with a smart, quick pass behind the Dutch defense, but Messi was just a half yard offside. Cillissen was there to make the clearance anyway.

50'          Snjeider and Robben line up for the free kick. Snjeider takes it and hits is straight down the center of the goal and at least five yards high. Not a great effort.

49'          BOOKING! Argentina defender Demichelis goes into the referees book following a challenge on Robben, who does his share of exaggeration.

46'          The Dutch get the second half underway.

Halftime sub from the Dutch: Indi, who was on a yellow card, comes off. It looks like a tactical re-think from Van Gaal. Janmaat is coming on, but them one the field they lineup in the same 3-5-2, so perhaps the Dutch coach simply wanted to avoid going down to 10 men.

Two data points showing how anemic the Dutch have been offensively.

• The Dutch have not had a single successful pass inside Argentina's penalty area.
• Robben and Van Persie have the lowest touch counts of all players on the field with 6 and 11, respectively.

Ron Vlaar of the Netherlands (L) fights for the ball with Argentina's Lionel Messi during their semi-finals. Reuters

Half Time

This is pretty much spot on. Neither team is playing that well, but Argentina have been better of the two

45+3'     The referee blows for half time.

45+1'     Messi takes the free kick and hits it deep. The referee blows his whistle for a foul on the Dutch keeper, who had grabbed the cross easily.

45+1'     First booking of the match. Indi gets booked for a foul Messi. He just held and arm out and grabbed Messi as he glided past him.

45+1'     The fourth official shows there are two minutes of time to be added.

44'          Perez is called for a foul on De Vrij and then Van Persie get knocked to the ground in the Argentina half. Snjeider will take the free kick and whip it into the Argentina box.

Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen (2nd R) of the Netherlands makes a save past his teammates Stefan de Vrij (L), Ron Vlaar and Argentina's Marcos Rojo (C) during their semi-finals. Reuters

42

'          A sloppy pass from Kuyt leads to Argentina winning the ball back 40 yards from the Netherlands goal, but they can't immediately capitalize but keep possession, passing all the way back to their center backs.

39'          Snjeider takes a hit in the calf and is off the field getting medical treatment in the form of the magic white spray that makes everything better. He does look to be in a fair bit of pain.

37'          A somewhat untidy spell of the match. Both sides losing the ball tamely in the final third, with a number of offside calls. The match is very tight.

34'          The Dutch win a corner. Romero punches away Snjeider's corner. Another cross comes in and then another and offside is called correctly on the Dutch on the third effort.

31'          Mascherano stays on.

29'          Mascherano takes blow to the head and is down getting medical treatment. This doesn't look good. He fell straight to the ground and was immediately surrounded by teammates calling for the trainers.

Argentina's Ezequiel Garay (R) heads the ball above the Netherlands goal during their semi-finals. Reuters

27

'          PERSIE! The Dutch goalkeeper Cillissen decides to play with the ball in his own box and dribble around Hinguain. The ball is played long eventually to Van Persie, who struggles to reach the ball for a spectacular header but is flagged for offside.

25'          CHANCE! Lavezzi puts the corner in and Garay drives the ball over with a diving header past Ron Vlaar. That was as close as either team has come.

24'          Clever work from Perez to tap the ball towards Messi and force Vlaar to concede another corner. Without a touch, Messi might have been in on goal.

22'          Not too much from the likes of Van Persie and Robben in the opening 22 minutes. Messi on the other hand, has been heavily involved thus far.

21'          Messi takes the corner low to the near post and cleared by De Jong but only straight back to Messi. Then Lavezzi curls in a cross that Cillissen collects easily.

20'          Half-chance for Argentina as Zabaleta drives down the right before swinging in low cross towards Higuain, but De Vrij gets across to make a fine challenge. The ball goes out for a corner.

16

'          MESSI! The free kick is struck low on the left-side of the wall for the bottom left corner. The Dutch goalkeeper Cillissen gets down and covers it.

15'          Now at the other end, Higuain finds Perez in space on the right and he cuts inside toward the box and is taken down. Argentina get a free kick in the Messi zone.

14'          Good defending from Mascherano on Robben down the right wing. But then he fumbles the clearance and drills it straight at Snjeider. The Dutchman fires wide though.

8'             Robben gets the ball from Indi and runs into the left of the Argentine box, but is flanked by Zabaleta and Perez. Perez wins a throw and a few moments later, the Dutch try another ball for Robben, this time over the top on the right.

6'             Argentina holding most of the ball right now, but not doing much danger with it. Zabaleta then finds Higuain wide on the right and he tries to interchange with Perez on the corner of the box.

4'             Perez drives at the heart of the Dutch defense but is eventually dispossessed.

3'             Holland exchange some possession until Indji plays a long diagonal ball for Kuyt, who tries to play it on with one touch for Van Persie in the middle. The Argentinians cuts it out and organize an attack.

2'             Cloudy conditions overhead at the Arena Corinthians. The humidity is high today at São Paulo.

1'             Argentina kick-off the second semi-final of this World Cup.

(L-R) Argentina's Pablo Zabaleta, Arjen Robben of the Netherlands and Argentina's Lucas Biglia run for the ball during their semi-finals. Reuters

Argentina's Gonzalo Higuain fights for the ball with Georginio Wijnaldum of the Netherlands (R) during their semi-finals. Reuters

Anthems sounded. Hands have been shaked. The kickoff is about to be done.

The teams are the in the tunnels. Argentina are in their famous blue and white stripes, the Albiceleste, with a combination of black shorts and black socks. The Dutch are in orange shirts, white shorts and orange socks.

Follow LIVE COMMENTARY of the semi-finals between Argentina and the Netherlands

Team News:

Netherlands:

Netherlands midfielder Nigel de Jong was named in the starting line-up to face Argentina in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, completing a remarkable recovery after straining his groin muscle in the last-16 game against Mexico on June 29.

The experienced 29-year-old had been a doubt for the rest of the tournament but he replaced forward Memphis Depay, who started the quarter-final against Costa Rica, suggesting that coach Louis van Gaal will use a 5-3-2 formation.

Striker Robin Van Persie also starts despite suffering from stomach problems before the game.

Netherlands's players pose for a team photo before their semi-finals against Argentina. Reuters

Lineup:

1-Jasper Cillessen; 3-Stefan de Vrij, 2-Ron Vlaar, 4-Bruno Martins Indi, 15-Dirk Kuyt, 5-Daley Blind; 6-Nigel de Jong, 11-Arjen Robben, 20-Georginio Wijnaldum, 10-Wesley Sneijder; 9-Robin van Persie

Substitutes:

7-Daryl Janmaat, 8-Jonathan de Guzman, 12-Paul Verhaegh, 13-Joel Veltman, 14-Terence Kongolo, 16-Jordy Clasie, 17-Jeremain Lens, 18-Leroy Fer, 19-Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, 21-Memphis Depay, 22-Michel Vorm, 23-Tim Krul

Argentina:

As expected, Argentina made two changes to the team who beat Belgium in the quarter-final.

Enzo Perez comes in to replace the injured Angel Di Maria and Marcos Rojo takes the place of Jose Basanta.

Argentina's players pose for a team photo before their semi-finals against the Netherlands. Reuters

Lineup:

1-Sergio Romero; 4-Pablo Zabaleta, 15-Martin Demichelis, 2-Ezequiel Garay, 16-Marcos Rojo; 14-Javier Mascherano, 6-Lucas Biglia, 8-Enzo Perez, 10-Lionel Messi; 22-Ezequiel Lavezzi, 9-Gonzalo Higuain

Substitutes:

3-Hugo Campagnaro, 5-Fernando Gago, 7-Angel Di Maria, 11-Maxi Rodriguez, 12-Agustin Orion, 13-Augusto Fernandez, 17-Frederico Fernandez, 18-Rodrigo Palacio, 19-Ricky Alvarez, 20-Sergio Aguero, 21-Mariano Andujar, 23-Jose Basanta

Referee:

Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey)

Previous meetings: The teams have played each other eight times overall, with the Netherlands winning four, Argentina one and three draws.

World Cup meetings: 1974 Second round: Netherlands 4 Argentina 0, 1978 Final: Argentina 3 Netherlands 1, 1998 Quarter-finals: Netherlands 2 Argentina 1, 2006 Group stage: Argentina 0 Netherlands 0

Results so far at the 2014 World Cup:

Netherlands: Opened their campaign with a 5-1 mauling of defending champions Spain before beating Australia 3-2 and Chile 2-0 to top Group B. They staged an astonishing fightback to beat Mexico 2-1 in the last 16, equalising with two minutes left on the clock before getting the winner via the penalty spot in stoppage time. Despite dominating Costa Rica in Saturday's quarter-final, the Netherlands needed a penalty shootout to secure a place in the semi-finals.

Argentina: Laboured to a 2-1 win over Bosnia in their opening game, scraped a 1-0 win over Iran in stoppage time and beat Nigeria 3-2 to finish top of Group F. Needed an extra-time goal in their last 16 match to beat Switzerland 1-0, then wrapped up their quarter-final against Belgium by the same scoreline.

An exterior image of the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo. Courtesy: stadiumguide

But for all the expectation, all the history and all the focus on the tactical approaches of Alejandro Sabella and Louis van Gaal, the clash at the Corinthians arena is likely to come down to how two individuals seize the moment.

With both teams set to pack the midfield, regardless of what formal formation they field, Argentine Lionel Messi and Dutchman Arjen Robben will be charged with producing thrilling moments of skill that could decide who heads to Rio for the final.

The Netherlands are one win away from a second straight World Cup final while opponents Argentina head into Wednesday's last-four clash looking to end their 24-year wait for a place in the biggest game of all.

Two-time winners Argentina take on the Netherlands in the semi-finals of World Cup at the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo.