The Dutch football team have reached the final of the FIFA World Cup. Playing Uruguay in the semi-final in South Africa’s Cape Town, they beat their opponents 3-2 with goals from Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst made it 1-0 for the Netherlands in the 18th minute of the first half with an outstanding long-range shot. But Uruguay, who refused to make it easy for their opponents, bounced back in the 41st minute with an equaliser from Diego Forlán.

De Zeeuw injured
In the second half, midfielder Demi de Zeeuw was replaced following a severe injury suffered in the first half, when he was hit full in the face by José Martín Cáceres. Rafael van der Vaart took his place. With Uruguay proving a demanding opponent the tension slowly mounted, until in the 70th minute Wesley Sneijder seized his chance and slipped the ball past the Uruguay defence, sending it glancing off the hapless Maxi Periera to go in off the post. Just three minutes later, with a cross from the left by Dirk Kuijt, Arjen Robben made it 3-1 with a powerful header.

Extra time
It looked as though the match was over, but Uruguay stayed on the attack and in extra time Pereira scored his team’s second goal of the match. Although this kept the tension high, after 95 minutes Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov blew the final whistle and the match ended 3-2 to the Netherlands.

The Dutch squad will now go forward to the final on Sunday in Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium, playing the winner of Wednesday’s match between Germany and Spain.