By Uruguay 2 Netherlands 3
Giovanni van Bronckhorst broke the deadlock after 18 minutes when he hit an unstoppable 35-yard left foot shot into the top corner.
But going ahead did not help the Dutch work out how to break down a well-organised Uruguay defence, and they also seemed unwilling to commit players forward in search of more goals.
Four minutes before half time Diego Forlan grabbed his fourth goal in six games when his swerving strike from 25 yards out beat Maarten Stekelenburg and leveled the game at 1-1.
The Netherlands were back in the lead after 70 minutes when Wesley Sneijder's shot hit Maxi Pereira and deflected into the net off a post. Three minutes later and Arjen Robben made it 3-1, when he met Dirk Kuyt's cross and headed firmly into the bottom corner.
Uruguay pulled it back to 3-2 in the 92nd minute when Maxi Pereira latched on to a quickly taken free-kick and curled a precise shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Unrelenting pressure in the final moments failed to find that all elusive equaliser and the Dutch ran out 3-2 winners and move on into a World Cup final for the first time since 1978.
Germany 0 Spain 1
Spain reached the World Cup final for the first time thanks to a second-half header from Carles Puyol who headed home Xavi's corner after 73 minutes.
Spain dominated the game possession-wise and Germany seemed unable to strike on the counter; a tactic that they had done so magnificently against England and Argentina, and as the game wore on they seemed to be playing from an ever deeper position.
Spain will now meet the Netherlands in the final of the 2010 World Cup at Soccer City, Johannesburg on Sunday evening. Germany and Uruguay will contest the third place match in Port Elizabeth on Saturday evening.
The final will be refereed by Englishman Howard Webb.
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