Playmaker Wesley Sneijder inspired Netherlands to a 3-2 victory over battling Uruguay on Tuesday that sent them back to the World Cup final after a 32-year wait where they will play in an all-European clash. Sneijder, scorer of both goals in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Brazil, was on target in the 70th minute to put the Dutch 2-1 ahead before Arjen Robben got a third three minutes later.
Maximiliano Pereira grabbed a second goal for Uruguay in added time but despite a late spell of pressure from the South Americans it was too late to stop the Dutch marching on.
Netherlands progress to their third World Cup final with the win setting up a showdown with either Spain or Germany.
"First final since '74 and '78, that came up in my mind in the second half," said Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk. "It's so very special and as a small country we can be so proud."
"After the second and third we should have scored a fourth. That would have prevented that final phase. But this is a World Cup. It doesn't matter how you do it it's all about the result."
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez told a news conference: "I'm very proud of my players... our opponents were better when it came to scoring goals against us. We went very far, no one expected that, so that helps the sadness of the defeat."
Midfielder Egidio Arevalo added: "We had a good World Cup. A lot of years have passed since we've done so well."
Uruguay last reached the World Cup semifinal in 1970.
The first half at Green Point Stadium ended 1-1 after superb long-range strikes from left back Giovanni van Bronckhorst for Netherlands and forward Diego Forlan for the Uruguayans.
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