Klaas Jan Huntelaar kept his cool in the heat of Fortaleza as Holland stunned Mexico with an injury-time winner. The
Schalke striker fired home a penalty to put the Dutch through the
quarter-finals of the World Cup as they inflicted an agonising defeat on
Mexico who were within two minutes of an historic win, leading through
Giovani dos Santos' excellent strike.
Wesley Sneijder's blistering
volley pulled Holland level before Arjen Robben won a penalty and
substitute Huntelaar smashed it home to make it 2-1 send the Dutch fans
into ecstasy.
It was familiar misery for Mexico - it is now six
consecutive World Cups where they have always been knocked out at this
stage of the tournament.
This time it had seemed the elements were
on their side. It was 30 degrees C and 70 per cent humidity meaning
that FIFA's limit had been passed allowing for official cooling and
drinks breaks midway through each half.
Mexico looked more
comfortable with conditions and took the game to the Dutch, whose cause
was not helped by midfield enforcer Nigel de Jong going off apparently
injured after only nine minutes.
Even before then, Mexico had
taken the game to Holland. Miguel Layun blazed over from 25 yards and
then fired wide, before skinning full-back Paul Verhaegh, but his cross
just evaded Dos Santos.
Hector Herrera was the next to threaten
for the Mexicans after some lovely build-up, but he just snatched at his
shot and it drifted wide.
>> Match Highlights <<
Monday, June 30, 2014
WORLD CUP 2014: Netherlands 2 - 1 Mexico
2:06 AM
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