German's lick their lips as Argentina outlast Netherlands in World Cup semi

Lionel Messi can lift the World Cup as captain on Sunday

After watching 120 minutes of less than stellar football, I doubt many fans are expecting an Argentina win on Sunday but this is how they got there if you were lucky enough to miss the match.

Argentina will face Germany in the World Cup final on Sunday after a dramatic penalty shootout win against the Netherlands.

The semi-final finished goalless after 120 minutes but it was Argentina who progressed to the final at the Maracana as they won 4-2 on penalties in Sao Paolo, with goalkeeper Sergio Romero the hero for Alejandro Sabella's side.

The Netherlands were boosted for the match by the return of Nigel de Jong, just eight days after being ruled out of the tournament with a thigh injury. Robin van Persie also recovered from a stomach bug to make Louis van Gaal's starting line-up.

Argentina welcomed Marcos Rojo back from suspension at left-back while Enzo Perez replaced the injured Angel Di Maria for their first World Cup semi-final since 1990.

Both teams began the match knowing it would take something special to take the shine off Germany's stunning 7-1 victory over Brazil in Tuesday's semi-final and failed to deliver on all counts.

The first 90 minutes of football produced just a single shot on target, a Lionel Messi free-kick after a quarter of an hour which barely troubled Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.

Messi produced glimpses of magic throughout the match but failed to live up to the pre-match hype surrounding himself and Dutch counterpart Arjen Robben.

The Argentina captain has created the highest number of goalscoring chances at the World Cup and tried and failed on several occasions to spark his side into life.

Robben meanwhile touched the ball just six times in the first half and was forced to drop much deeper after the break to try and get involved in the game.

Still, neither side was able to create much in the way of goalmouth action. The first real opportunity fell to Gonzalo Higuain after 76 minutes when he latched onto a wonderful low cross from Enzo Perez to poke a shot into the side netting.

Argentina left-back Marcos Rojo then struck a long-range effort straight at Cillessen as the match threatened to open up in the final 10 minutes of normal time.

But the momentum was quickly quelled by an organised Netherlands defence, at the centre of which Ron Vlaar played a starring role for Van Gaal's side.

His man-of-the-match performance spoke volumes about the Netherlands' disappointing night on the attacking front, although they could have won it in injury time.

A neat touch from Wesley Sneijder sent Robben clear through on goal and he looked set to score but a heavy touch allowed Javier Mascherano time to recover and block the final shot.

From then on, the match always looked destined for penalties. Robben produced the Netherlands' first shot on target nine minutes into extra-time with a long range effort while Messi continued to be frustrated at the opposite end.

With five minutes remaining, Sergio Aguero's chip over the defence found Rodrigo Palacios unmarked but caught in two minds and his final header was straight at Cillessen.

Messi tried one last time to create a winner as his cross found Maxi Rodriguez but the substitute was unable to trouble the goalkeeper with a volley on his weaker right foot.

The Dutch entered the shootout having already won one at the World Cup, beating Costa Rica in the quarter-final.

But head coach van Gaal was unable to use his preferred goalkeeper, Tim Krul, on this occasion, having used the last of his three substitutions in extra-time.

It meant Cillessen, who has never saved a penalty in 16 attempts his professional career, was left in goal for the Dutch having faced the embarrassment of being substituted in favour of Krul in Saturday's quarter-final.

The shootout got off to a bad start for the Dutch as Vlaar stepped up first and saw his penalty saved by Sergio Romero before Messi converted his spot-kick for Argentina.

Cillessen was unable to keep out any of the Argentina penalties and after Sneijder's effort was also saved, Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez kept cool heads to send the South Americans to the Maracana with a 4-2 shootout win.

They will now face Germany in the World Cup final on Sunday in a repeat of the 1986 and 1990 finals against the old West Germany.

Argentina won 3-2 in Mexico in 1986 but the Germans won the last meeting 1-0 at Italia '90.