Holland Win Semi-Final: Let's Go Dutch on Some Final Tickets!

The Windmills are whirring, the clogs are clattering, the smoke is billowing, and the celebrations have an orange tinge to them. Why? For the first time since the 1970s, Holland is back where they belong: In a World Cup Final.

Holland 3, Uruguay 2

The Dutch have the greatest youth system in European football, and finally after years of greats—Marco Van Basten, Ruud Guillit, Clarence Seedorf, and Edgar Davids—not making it to the World Cup Final, Holland has finally made it, conquering Uruguay 3-2 in the semi-finals.

Let's be honest, the Dutch win—like all of their wins this tournament—wasn't a thing of beauty. Then again, they rarely are in a semi-final. They just had to be won.

Giovanni Van Bronkhorst's absolute screamer gave Holland the lead, but the men in orange sat back as the men from Montevideo pressed. A chance was given to perhaps the player of the tournament, Diego Forlan, to shoot from range. The ball dipped over Dutch 'keeper, Maarten Stekelenburg, and into the net for an unlikely Uruguayan equalizer.

Then came the moment of controversy, Wesley Schneijder, his fourth goal in six games, shot deflected off a Uruguay defender, and beat Muslera all ends up. The light blues would argue that Robin Van Persie—who took credit for the goal despite actually not touching the thing as it flew past him—was in Muslera's line of vision and slightly offside.

As much as Montevideo cared, Amsterdam didn't. Their team was up 2-1, and the party was just beginning.

But while the Uruguayans had Forlan, the Dutch had their own maestro, a diminutive winger/striker/talisman/G-d, Arjen Robben, who simply destroyed the blue shirts for 45 minutes. He couldn't be stopped going forward. For a large part of the game, it was like the Dutch said We'll just give it to Arjen, and he will score .

He got the third goal, a sumptuous flick of the head that left Uruguay keeper Fernando Muslera completely helpless.

He could and should have made it 3-2 before Uruguay scored from a set-piece after Maxi Pereira curled a beauty past Skelenburg, but it didn't matter. A minute or two of nerves later and Holland were in the final.

Of course, it's hard to make out what this Dutch team is like. Against a team that had more than one striker—Forlan played as the 'loan wolf' for much of the game thanks to the suspension of the talented striker-come-goalkeeper, Luis Suarez—this team would have struggled and they will definitely give up chances. We can say this for certain: they'll go into the Final, as they did against Brazil, as underdogs.

And you know what?

Good luck to them!