Argentina booked a date with Germany in the final of the 2014 World Cup, after edging Netherlands 4-2 in a dramatic penalty shootout in the semifinal at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo.
After neither side could break the deadlock in 120 minutes, the match progressed to the dreaded penalty shootout, where Argentina finally emerged victorious thanks to some good goalkeeping by Sergio Romero.
With both sides satisfied with their defensive prowess, the first real chance of the game only arrived in the 23rd minute through Ezequiel Garay. Ezequiel Lavezzi whipped in a corner towards Garay, but the defender was unable to keep his header down as the ball went over the crossbar.
The Dutch attackers Van Persie and Arjen Robben were very quiet in the first half, with the latter only getting six touches in the opening 45 minutes.
Apart from Garay misdirected header, Argentina were also unable to create any other chances in the first half.
After the interval, Argentina were a bit better as they managed to mount some pressure on the Dutch defence. While Vlaar was forced to make a last ditch tackle to stop Messi from advancing towards goal, Gonzalo Higuain was denied by substitute defender Daryl Janmaat.
However, neither side was able to test the goalkeepers as the match reached the end of normal time. Higuain got a good chance in the 75th minute when he received a low cross from Enzo Perez, but the Napoli striker succumbed to the pressure as he dragged his effort wide of the target.
Although Sabella brought in Sergio Aguero and Rodrigo Palacio in an attempt to boost his side's attack, it was Netherlands who nearly grabbed the winner in the first minute of injury time.
Sneijder found Robben with a diagonal pass, but before the Bayern Munich winger could do anything Mascherano came to Argentina's rescue, forcing the game into extra time.
The 30 minutes of extra time also didn't prove to be eventful as Argentina are Netherlands hardly created any chances.
While Robben 98th minute effort went down Romero's throat, Aguero failed to make use of Palacio's excellent cross in the 105th minute.
Argentina did get a very good chance in the 115th minute when Palacio drove into the box and tried to glide a header over Cillessen, but the alert Dutch goalkeeper managed to make the save.
Finally the match was forced into penalties after Dirk Kuyt's effort was blocked by Rojo.
It started disastrously for the Dutch as Vlaar's penalty was saved by Romero. Messi and Robben and Garay converted their respective penalties, before Sneijder's effort was again saved by Romero.
Aguero and Kuyt successfully converted their penalties, before Maxi Rodriguez scored the winner and sent Argentina to the finals of the 2014 World Cup.
Catch the full highlights of the game here, and also check out these photos capturing the best moments of the match:
