Did Arjen Robben dove against Mexico to garner a penalty kick for his home team that helped secure them a spot in this year's World Cup quarterfinals. According to Martin Lipton in Fortaleza for the Mirror, the Dutch said so, but not the third time that caused the match referee to award Netherlands a spot-kick during injury time.
Robben was quoted as saying, "I must apologize. The one at the end was a penalty. But the other one was a dive in the first half. I shouldn't be doing that. Now, we're through, I'm almost crying from the emotions."
Netherlands thought that it would be going home when it was unable to overcome a Guillermo Ochoa-led Mexico, whose amazing goal-stopping skills were on full display in the game on Sunday. However, Dutch team coach Louis Van Gaal decided to pull out crowd favorite Robin Van Persie and replaced him with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who delivered the winning penalty kick into the net following Robben's fall. The goal led the Netherlands into a 2-1 victory, with a devastated Mexico going home for failing to get into the World Cup quarterfinals for the sixth time.
The New York Times said Mexico coach Miguel Herrera, who had been an online and tournament favorite for his very passionate sideline antics whenever his team scored a goal, did not mince words during a postgame conference about the controversial dive by Robben.
Herrera said of Robben, who is said to be known for his embellishments, "The penalty was an invented penalty. Today, it was the man with the whistle who eliminated us from the World Cup. Out of four matches, we had three matches where the refereeing was disastrous."
On the other hand, Ochoa and the rest of El Tri were also not spared by Herrera, who blamed them for allowing the Dutch to score an equalizer ahead of the controversial dive. The Times said loose defending following a late corner kick had allowed Wesley Sneijder to send a 20-yard shot past Ochoa.
On the other hand, Dutch defender Daley Blind acknowledged how tough the Mexicans were, "The tension was unbelievable; I've never lived through anything like that. We couldn't find our men with our passes in the first half; we struggled to get to the ball. But we came back stronger in the second."
