Uruguay may have lost 3-2 to the Netherlands but they will return to their homeland after Saturday's third-and-fourth playoff as heroes.
Uruguay may have lost 3-2 to the Netherlands but they will return to their homeland after Saturday's third-and-fourth playoff as heroes.
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| Mark van Bommel's nasty tackle on an Uruguay player just before Giovanni van Bronckhorst's stunning 35-yard opener was not punished by the referee |
When the finals began three-and-a-half weeks ago, no one could have predicted La Celeste progressing all the way to the last four. After all, this Uruguay team had only qualified for South Africa via the Concacaf/Conmebol playoff against Costa Rica, and were appearing in just their second World Cup since 1990.
And only some small, controversial details yesterday prevented them from making the final.
The second half began with teams locked at 1-1 and Uruguay were clearly the better team before Wesley Sneijder broke the deadlock.
The current interpretation of the offside law is that if any part of your body is offside and you are interfering with play, then it is an infringement. Robin Van Persie's foot was offside and, as he was standing right in front of Nestor Muslera, Sneijder's goal should have been chalked off.
As should Giovanni van Bronckhorst's opener, as Mark van Bommel executed a leg-breaking tackle on an opponent just seconds earlier that went unpunished and should have resulted in a red card.
Due to Luis Suarez-gate in the match against Ghana, there will be absolutely no fuss made in most places about the fact that Holland's first two goals shouldn't have stood tonight. But, we won't hide away from the facts. To put it simply, Uruguay could have won 2-1 with proper officiating.
