More On Netherlands/Uruguay Match
Uruguay clearly needed their striker Luis Suarez who was suspended following the intentional handball in their last match against Ghana. Nicolas Lodeiro also missed the match due to a foot injury he picked up against Ghana. Uruguay's captain Diego Lugano also was out due to a knock he picked up against Ghana. Don't forget defender Jorge Fucile who was suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Needless to say, Uruguay was not going into this match at full strength.
The Netherlands, on the hand, was only missing Gregory van der Wiel and Nigel de Jong. not exactly gamechangers
In the 4th minute, the Netherlands should have scored when Kuyt shot it over the crossbar from only 15 yards out off a deflection from Muslera. In the 13th minute the Netherlands missed another opportunity when Sneijder blasted his shot right into his teammate Van Persie, who was inexplicably standing right in front of him in the penalty box.
In the 18th minute the Netherlands finally scored when van Brockhorst scorched one off the right post from 30 yards out! In the 28th minute Caceres kicked Demy de Zeeuw in the face when he tried a bicycle kick which earned him a yellow card. Sneijder came in to confront Caceres and also earned himself a yellow.
Right when it looked like Uruguay was dead meat, Forlan fired a missile just outside the box passed the outstretched hands of Skekelenburg in the 41st minute. The keeper really should have blocked the shot.
Demy de Zeeuw was replaced by van der Vaart at halftime. In the 70th minute, Sneijder fired his shot at the near post, but was deflected by a Uruguay defender to the far post right by Muslera. Just 3 minutes later Robben headed one in off an amazing cross by Kuyt. In the 92nd minute, Maxi Pereira scored one off a free kick, catching the Dutch defense napping. But by then it was too late!