Out of four South American teams in the quarter finals, Uruguay was the only one still looking for a place in the final.

Holland took the lead through a wonderful strike by Giovanni Van Bronckhorst but Uruguay levelled the score with an impressive curler from Diego Forlan, five minutes before the break.

That's pretty much what the first-half was about, two teams cancelling each other; even with the quality of their individual goals. Maybe Maarten Stekelenburg could have put a hand on Forlan's shot but there was some influential swerve on the ball.

Half-time: 1:1

Bert van Marwijk looked to make a more attacking change after the break; bringing on Rafael van der Vaart in place of Demy De Zeeuw.

It took a while to pay off, as Holland started to look frustrated with themselves and Uruguay appeared the more relaxed.

After Maarten Stekelenburg knocked a Diego Forlan free-kick away, Holland woke up with two goals in three minutes; thanks to Wesley Sneijder's deflected shot and Arjen Robben's header.

From a game that started to look like it had penalties written all over it, to one that almost looked like a walkover; the change happened faster than Ravshan Irmatov could flip a coin.

Once Diego Forlan was substituted, with six minutes still to play, one sensed that Oscar Tabarez felt there was no way back.

The Uruguay players had other ideas though when they earned a free-kick in injury time. With no Diego Forlan on the pitch, the ball was played low to Maxi Pereira who scored to give the game a tense final few minutes.

Uruguay couldn't get the equaliser they needed so Holland booked their place in a World Cup Final for the first time in 32 years.

Uruguay 2 Holland 3