Argentina in the World Cup final

Argentine Sergio Romero saved two penalties as Argentina beat the Netherlands on Wednesday in a shootout, reaching the World Cup final after the first-ever semi-final to finish goalless after extra time.

Goalie Romero plunged low to his left to save the first penalty kick from Dutch defender Ron Vlaar and then made a superb stop from Wesley Sneijder. None of the Argentines missed and Argentina won the shootout, 4-2. The pressure of taking the winning kick fell to Argentina substitute Maxi Rodriguez who blasted the ball high to Jasper Cillessen’s right. The Dutch goalie reached the ball but could not stop it.

"We have given everything and I'm incredibly proud of this team," the Netherlands’ Arjen Robben said after the game. "It came down to penalties and they simply did better," he told Dutch broadcaster NOS. "To lose like this simply sucks, it hurts."

Why Defending champions Spain crushed to a 1-5 defeat against Netherlands

Stunning goals from Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben fired the Netherlands to a 5-1 demolition of Spain who endured a miserable start to their World Cup defence in a pulsating Group B game on Friday. In complete contrast to the tetchy World Cup final between the sides in 2010 which Spain won 1-0, the Dutch took sweet revenge with a vibrant display capped off by two goals each for Van Persie and Robben and one by defender Stefan de Vrij.

"I certainly didn't expect this result but I did expect us to score in the way we did," Dutch coach Louis van Gaal told reporters. "Spain were always going to come at us and we catch them on the counter. My players did it perfectly. It's far better than we ever expected," Dutch coach Louis van Gaal told reporters.