Messi gets opportunity to grace the biggest stage

Argentina 0 Netherlands 0. (AET) (Argentina win 4-2 on penalties)

Argentina return to the World Cup final for the first time since 1990, where they face Germany, the side that suffered Diego Maradona’s last acts in 1986.

Now, all has aligned for Leo Messi to enjoy the most perfect crescendo. It would be a reprieve, because this was anything but the perfect match or performance

It wasn’t Messi who was the hero but Sergio Romero, who saved penalties from Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder to send Argentina through after a dismally long 120 minutes and a much less anxious shoot-out. After the Aston Villa defender missed the first, it seemed set.

The tense pattern of the game was set well before it started, and not just because of van Gaal’s decision to return the abrasive Nigel De Jong to the starting XI specifically to stop Messi. It actually came out of a moment’s levity. As the teams were lining up to enter the Arena Corinthians, Van Gaal hung around in order to catch the number-10’s eye and shake his hand. Many of the Dutch players were the same.

That illustrated the manner in which Messi dominated mindsets, and it soon became very apparent during the game itself.

For extended periods, the Dutch seemed so singularly obsessed with simply stopping the number-10, that they completely sapped their own attack.

With De Jong always within three yards of Messi, and the Argentina playmaker regularly forcing him back, it meant there were often acres between Van Gaal’s defence and attack. They weren’t set up to so readily release Arjen Robben’s pace, which meant the 30-year-old forward only touched the ball seven times in the first half.

It was clearly part of a trap, but also presented a dilemma, and did always leave the Netherlands on the brink of danger.

Even if Messi was regularly being penned, he always seemed poised to break out. One sudden run on the right illustrated that, only for Bruno Martins Indi to leave an elbow in. Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir missed that, but the defender was not so lucky the next time. As Messi evaded him with an even better piece of technique minutes later, Martins Indi could only respond with a piece of malice, bringing a booking.

That represented another dilemma for the Dutch: how close were they willing to go to the aggression of 2010 and risk being reduced to 10 men?

The game as a whole did follow the pattern of the final four years ago, if with a little less violence, as the Netherlands were forced into containing a superior attacking force and just trying to counter.

It said much that their best attack of the first half was a long pass towards Robin van Persie. For a moment, it seemed so reminiscent of Frank De Boer’s ball to Dennis Bergkamp in the meeting between these sides in the 1998 quarter-final, but didn’t have the same result. Ezequiel Garay got his head to it, with the ball harmlessly bouncing off Van Persie.

The Argentine defender was at the centre of a much more threatening moment just minutes beforehand, but his header from a corner went over the bar.

The South American side were still not quite getting under the Netherlands in the way central defender Martin Demichelis had suggested on the eve of the game, but the centre-half did receive his own booking for finally getting to grips with Robben, dragging him to the ground.

The Dutch did step out a little in the second half, but the game was still being defined by dogged tenacity rather than dynamic technique.

When Messi eventually got clear off De Jong by pure pace, he found another Dutch body blocking the way. When he then seemed set to skip to his left and unleash a shot, Ron Vlaar flicked a foot to the side to just touch the ball away.

So much of the match was summed up when, as Gonzalo Higuain hit the ball just wide for the first moment of true drama and sense of excitement from the crowd, the linesman raised his flag.

The only engaging aspect of the game at that point was the extreme tension.

So, with Van Gaal’s gameplan for Messi working so well, Argentina manager Alejandro Sabella produced his own trump card: Sergio Aguero.

It was almost Robben that threw down the ace. Wesley Sneijder finally flicked him through on 90 minutes and just when the winger was set to shoot, Mascherano flung his body down to get the vital touch.

Six minutes before the end of a stultifying period of extra-time, substitute Rodrigo Palacio was presented with what seemed a vital moment. Somehow, he decided to head it rather than let it drop.

It ensured the play itself never rose to a crescendo. There were penalties.

There was also a master-class from Romero.

He barely played for Monaco last season. He will now feature in a World Cup final.