Holland maintained their impressive winning streak to book their spot in the World Cup final with a 3-2 triumph over Uruguay.

Oranje delight in Cape Town as Uruguay are dumped out

Holland maintained their impressive winning streak to book their spot in the World Cup final with a 3-2 triumph over Uruguay. Bert van Marwijk's side, who are on course to raise their first World Cup trophy, were shown real fight by the South Americans, but eventually edged home to complete a 25-match unbeaten run. Giovanni van Bronckhorst was the hero for Holland in an enthralling first half as he powered home an unstoppable strike from long range that even Luis Suarez's 'Hand of God' would have struggled to keep out. Man-of-the-moment Diego Forlan then unleashed his Midas-touch just before the break as he curled the equaliser past Maarten Stekelenburg, who could have made an easy save. But Wesley Sneijder put Holland back in charge 20 minutes from time as his deflected strike from inside the box flew past Fernando Muslera and into the bottom left-hand corner, before Arjen Robben found the back of the net just three minutes later with a neat headed effort into the bottom right-hand corner. Maxi Pereira hit back for Uruguay in the first minute of added time but it turned out to be simply a consolation strike despite a tense final few seconds as the South Americans failed to act out a full comeback. Holland's victory seals their passage to the decider for the first time since 1978, where they will take on the winner of Wednesday's other semi-final clash between Germany and Spain.

Lively start

Both teams made a lively start, with Uruguay seizing slightly more possession in the opening stages as the Dutch defenders were given the chance to stretch their legs. But the Uruguayan fans were made nervous for the first time in the fourth minute when Muslera failed to punch clear a Robben cross, allowing Dirk Kuyt to come close with a right-foot shot from 12 yards out which he fired over the crossbar. More pressure from the Oranje ensued, broken only by a tentative unsuccessful effort by Alvaro Pereira from around the half-way line and climaxing in a stunning cross swung over by Kuyt from the left that Robben was unable to get under with his head. Forlan missed the opportunity to feed the breaking Edinson Cavani when he delivered a wayward pass in the 11th minute, then Muslera was spared from more trouble as a Wesley Sneijder shot from 20 yards slammed into his own team-mate Robin van Persie. The Dutch continued to pile on the pressure until Van Bronckhorst drew first blood with an extraordinary strike from 41 yards out in the 18th minute, which soared over Muslera and smashed decisively into the top right-hand corner of the net. The Uruguay defence managed to keep a dangerous-looking Robben and Van Persie from delivering any follow-up, but there was more woe for the South Americans soon after when Maxi Pereira was the first man to see yellow for a challenge on Robben. Van Bronckhorst's stunner seemed to have subdued the Uruguayans as the Dutch began to dominate, but a high kick from Martin Caceres that booted Demy de Zeeuw square in the face caused tempers on both sides to flare, despite the blow appearing accidental. Sneijder put his hand around Caceres' head in the resulting scuffle, causing the South American to fall to the ground and the referee to reach for the yellow card for both players. Uruguay began to assert themselves more as Stekelenburg was forced to make a save from a tame Alvaro Pereira shot,