It’s a fair bet that Argentina-Netherlands won’t be as one-sided a game as last night’s eight-goal affair.
If I was confident of my prediction going into the Brazil-Germany game, this one is much, much harder to call.
I would say that the Netherlands have the better all-round team but then, as we’ve seen already, a moment or two of magic from somebody like Lionel Messi or Gonzalo Higuaín could make the difference for Argentina.
They will miss Ángel di Maria, but remember the Netherlands are making do without Nigel de Jong, also unavailable due to injury.
Both sides were taken to extra-time in their quarter-finals and the Dutch had to go through penalties against Costa Rica. Neither will want a repeat given that they have one day less to recover than Germany for the final.
This is a repeat of the 1978 final, which Argentina won 3-1 after extra-time. It’s a game and a scoreline that probably has more relevance to the fans than those involved.
This one could really could be a game that turns on a magnificent piece of skill, or a brilliant save, or a stroke of luck. Think Dennis Bergkamp’s superb strike in 1998 or the Netherlands hitting the post in the closing stages of the 1978 final.
Let’s not think too much about the 0-0 draw in the 2006 group stages although given the glut of goals yesterday, it might just be the most likely outcome. I’ll be more than happy to be proved wrong though.