Argentina reached their first World Cup final in 24 years on Wednesday, beating the Netherlands 4-2 on penalties after the first scoreless semi in the tournament's history, with old foes Germany awaiting them in Sunday's showpiece.
Here is a blow-by-blow account of how the penalties proceeded.
Sergio Goycochea vs Sergio Romero | Match report| I taught Romero: Van Gaal
Netherlands (NED): Ron Vlaar
SAVED!
Vlaar keeps it low, but Romero judges it right and dives to his left to save the first penalty of the day.
NED 0-0 ARGArgentina (ARG) : Lionel Messi
GOAL!
Vlaar keeps it low, but Romero judges it right and dives to his left to save the first penalty of the day.
NED 0-0 ARGArgentina (ARG) : Lionel Messi
GOAL!
The captain steps up to the challenge and coolly slots the ball over Cillessen.
NED 0-1 ARG
NED: Arjen Robben
GOAL!
Robben lands the ball into the bottom right corner as Romero dives in the wrong direction.
NED 1-1 ARGARG: Garay
GOAL!
He smashes the ball into the roof of the net. Cillessen has no chance.
NED 1-2 ARGNED: Sneijder
SAVED!
Romero comes up with his second save as he springs to his right to keep the shot out.
NED 1-2 ARG
ARG: Aguero
GOAL!
Cillessen judges it correctly and dives towards his right, but he is a millisecond late as the ball whizzes past him into the net.
NED 1-3 ARGNED: Dirk Kuyt
GOAL!
Now this is experience. He steps up and fires the ball into the right corner with ease.
NED 2-3 ARG
ARG: Maxi Rodriguez
GOAL!
Rodriguez scoring puts Argentina into the finals.
NED 2-4 ARG
( All photos from AFP, AP, REUTERS)