H-T Uruguay 1-1 Holland: Forlan curler levels it

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Diego Forlan's curling shot pulled Uruguay level after a wonder strike from Holland's Giovanni Van Bronckhorst.

The Green Point Stadium was a sea of Orange - apart from the large grey patches of empty seats.

And those expectant Dutch fans should have been celebrating the opener inside four minutes, as the nerves of the Uruguayan back line were exposed.

After Robben had roasted stand-in left-back Martin Caceres, Demy De Zeeuw, in for suspended Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong, floated in a cross Fernando Muslera flapped straight to Dirk Kuyt, who blazed over from 14 yards.

While Uruguay were neat and tidy, it was the Dutch who were carrying the real threat and on 18 minutes, they were ahead.

What a way to do it, too, although the officials - and indeed most of the stadium - missed Mark Van Bommel's brutal foul on Walter Gargano in the build-up.

Even so, when Van Bronckhorst received De Zeeuw's square ball 35 yards out there seemed nothing on.

But the former Arsenal defender exploded a left-footer that arrowed straight for the postage stamp top corner, brushing Muslera's fingertips on its way into the target.

A magical strike and for a while Uruguay rocked, especially when Robben's antics bought a soft booking for Maximiliano Pereira.

There was nothing soft about the impact Caceres' overhead kick made on De Zeeuw's chin soon afterwards, a thunderous accidental blow the Ajax midfielder did well to survive, with the Uruguayan and Sneijder booked for the flare-up that followed.

Tempers were flaring, Edinson Cavani angering the Dutch as he ran into Joris Mathijsen and fell in the box, the tackles increasingly malevolent, although Cavani's indecision after a lucky bounce wasted an opportunity.

But four minutes from the break, a bit of genius from Forlan - and a horror error from Stekelenburg - changed the mood.

The former Manchester United man drifted into space to pick up the ball, turned inside and let fly, with Stekelenburg completely misjudging as the ball swerved to hit almost the exact middle of the goal.