SAO PAULO, Brazil — Lionel Messi finally has his shot at a World Cup title, the one championship the world's best player has yet to win.
Argentina was a perfect 4-for-4 on penalty kicks and Sergio Romero came up with two monster saves as the Albiceleste edged the Netherlands to earn a spot in Sunday's final against Germany. When Maxi Rodriguez's penalty kick banged off Jasper Cillessen's hands and flew backward into the net to seal the victory, Messi took off running, a wide grin spreading across his face.
It's Argentina's first appearance in the final since 1990, when it lost to Italy.
Messi is a four-time world player of the year, and he has a trophy case filled with hardware from the Spanish and Champions leagues. But he'd never come close to soccer's greatest prize, and critics have said he couldn't even be in the conversation for greatest player of all time without at least one World Cup title.
Now he has his chance.
Argentina will need a far more spirited effort than it showed against the Dutch, however. The game was a ragged, plodding affair, with the teams combining for just eight shots on target. Germany and Brazil had that many GOALS in the previous night's semifinal.
Argentina had two chances to win it at the end of extra time, but Cillessen easily saved a header by Rodrigo Palacio and then a mis-hit chip shot by Rodriguez.
But in the shootout, it was all Argentina.
The Dutch had gone to penalties in their quarterfinal against Costa Rica, with manager Louis van Gaal showing some genius by bringing on backup goalkeeper Tim Krul. But van Gaal couldn't do the same Wednesday, using up his final substitute to bring on Klaas Jan Huntelaar for Robin van Persie in extra time.
As dialed-in as the Argentines were, however, Krul might not have made a difference.
Romero body-blocked the first shot, by Ron Vlaar, and let out a roar that could be heard all the way to Buenos Aires. He pounded his chest and then held up his left glove, kissing it.
Messi was not nearly as emotional after leaving Cillessen flat-footed on Argentina's first shot, simply shaking his finger as he trotted away from the penalty spot. Arjen Robben evened things up, but then Ezequiel Garay put one over Cillessen to give Argentina a 2-1 edge.
Romero batted away Wesley Sneijder's shot, screaming "Vamos!" repeatedly as the Argentine fans began celebrating. Though Dirk Kuyt made his penalty to keep the Dutch hopes alive, Rodriguez finished it off, setting off jubilation in the stands.
