Having searched desperately for differentials going into the first semi-final, it was largely the proven heavy-hitters who produced the goods or the goals last night.
The Dutch went into the game as the most likely source of a semi-final clean sheet whilst Uruguay’s progress to this point had been built on a miserly defence and rigid organisation. Few saw five goals in this one but if the scoreline was unpredictable, the chief damage-dealers had a ring of inevitability about them…
Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder again proved to be the protagonists for the Dutch, the latter striking his fifth goal of the finals drawing alongside Spain’s David Villa in the race to slip on that Golden Boot. Robben meanwhile lived up to his billing as Holland’s dangerman handed to him by Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez prior to the game, with a display that saw him register five McFifa attacking bonus to accompany the decisive third goal for the men in orange. It had all began with a sublime strike from skipper Giovanni van Bronckhorst who duly rewarded his Fantasy investors with an unexpected bonus, providing ample compensation for Holland’s failure to keep their clean sheet intact.
Uruguay’s contribution to the compelling contest predictably arrived from the boot of stand-in skipper Diego Forlan, while the much-coveted mid-price defender Maxi Pereira capped his impressive tournament with a late strike that briefly handed the South Americans with a route back into the game.
It wasn’t to be and the Dutch now wait on tonight’s outcome for their World Cup Final opponents. Gregory Van Der Wiel and Nigel de Jong will surely both return for that game. The latter will surely replace Demy De Zeeuw in midfield given that he suffered a suspected broken jaw in last night’s clash. While City’s destroyer De Jong is unlikely to flutter the Fantasy feathers, right-back Van Der Wiel likely to attract a flurry of new owners as the capacity on players per team rises once again.
Sneijder and Robben will remain the prize assets however – the jewels in the Dutch crown which sparkle around the team’s somewhat rougher diamonds that are De Jong and Van Bommel in midfield. Both Sneijder and Robben will surely be in every competitive Fantasy Manager’s lineup come Sunday. Will they stand aside and present the opportunity for a differential to deliver? Not if last night’s proceedings are anything to go by.