FIFA World Cup, Argentina vs Netherlands: Outnumbered Dutch eliminated in Louis van Gaal's finale

LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Dutch were outnumbered.

Argentina h one Lionel Messi and Nerlands h ne.

And still, Oranje came back and forced extra time in a World Cup quarterfinal for s by scoring in 83rd minute and n on a playground- restart in 11th — yes, 11th! — minute of second-half stopp time.

When Argentina escaped with a 4-3 penalty-kicks win following a 2-2 draw Saturday to reach a semifinal against Croatia, Dutch crumpled to field in ir glaring orange uniforms, looking like a wired citrus grove. Wout Weghorst, at 6-foot-6, was flat on his back in center circle as Messi danced with teammates in front of tens of thousands of singing supporters.

“y gave everything, and I’m incredibly proud,” coach Louis van Gaal said. “y did everything y could to prevent this from happening.”

A nation that gave world Total Football a half-century ago remains with a total of zero World Cup titles, still looking up at Brazil (five), Germany and Italy (four each), Argentina, France and Uruguay (two apiece) and England and Spain.

A rewned invator with coaches who attract youth prospects from around world, Nerlands has lost three World Cup finals. Dutch took an early le in 1974 before losing to host West Germany 2-1 and y were back in championship match four years later only to lose to host Argentina 3-1 in extra time.

ir next generation won a European Championship title in 1988 with Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten leing m over Soviet Union 2-0. But big prize still eluded Dutch.

Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie led m to ar final in 2010 but y lost 1-0 in extra time to a superior Spain, n were beaten by Messi and Argentina in 2014 semifinals on penalty kicks. Back in World Cup this year after failing to qualify for 2018, y entered quarterfinal with a 19-game unbeaten streak.

re were just 1,400 Dutch fans who stuck out in ir bright jerseys among a crowd of 88,235, about 90% in Argentina’s blue-and-white-striped jerseys with Messi’s . 10 on back.

Messi’s sublime -look pass set up Nahuel Molina’s 35th-minute goal , and Messi doubled le when he converted a penalty kick in 73rd after Denzel Dumfries pushed Marcos Acuña at edge of penalty area .

“I think that penalty was awarded rar easily,” Van Gaal said.

Taking aim at a tall task, Van Gaal opted for height. He inserted Weghorst, who heed a Steven Berghuis cross past Emilia Martínez in 83rd .

Benches cleared five minutes later on a night of a World Cup record 17 yellow cards plus a postgame red.

And n came biggest twist of all. After Germán Pezzella fouled Weghorst to give Dutch a free kick from 22 yards, Teun Koopmeiners started a play seen in training but almost never in games: He sent a low kick along ground into wall, where Weghorst took a touch, spun and sent ball past Martínez .

And that's where score remained after extra time, after drama of Enzo Fernández hitting a post in second extra period's stopp time.

“We thought that we would be able to win when it came to penalties,” Van Gaal said.

Captain Virgil van Dijk took first and Martínez dived right to push ball away. After Messi converted, Martínez sprawled left to deny Berghuis.

When Enzo Fernández put his try off a post, Dutch h an opening, but Lautaro Martínez sent his kick to right of keeper Andries ppert, who dived left .

As celebration extended, Messi and Van Gaal exchanged words .

“This was my very last match,” said Van Gaal, ending his third term in charge of Oranje. “I look back in a positive way.”

He was asked to assess his performance and mentioned team's 20-game unbeaten streak.

“I don't kw how many we won (14), but you check all that. I think it’s Google,” he said. “Dutch team and Louis van Gaal and goal difference.”

___

AP World Cup cover: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports