Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal was delighted with the comeback of his team against Mexico (2-1) in the last 16 match of the World Cup on Sunday, while his counterpart Miguel Herrera was disappointed about the mistakes his team made and also blamed Arjen Robben for diving.
Mexico took the lead in Fortaleza through Giovani Dos Santos, but Wesley Sneijder equalized in the 88th minute and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar converted a penalty in extra time to earn 'Oranje' a berth in the quarter-finals.
"I have to give credit to my players," Van Gaal said. "I think they were in much better shape and much more focused than our opponents. They never stopped believing, right to the end. They showed belief and a lot of confidence."
During the second half Van Gaal switched from 5-3-2 to a 4-4-3 system with substitute Memphis Depay and after bringing Huntelaar he even opted for 4-4-2, with Dirk Kuyt, who also played left and right back during the match, as one of the center forwards.
"We took advantage of the water break to move to Plan B," Van Gaal said. "Before that we already changed to 4-3-3 and created loads of chances, some of them denied by the woodwork and others by a keeper who has been fantastic. However, the goal didn't arrive. After Sneijder equalized we went back to 4-3-3 and Robben got us the penalty."
After Robben was brought down inside the box by Mexican captain Rafael Marquez the Dutch were awarded a penalty. Huntelaar had not scored for the Dutch team since October 2012, but was confident enough to take the penalty.
"Arjen Robben first picked the ball and asked me if I would like to take it," Huntelaar reacted. "Of course I wanted that. Because I missed a penalty for my club Schalke 04 this year I was a little nervous, but when I scored it gave a real adrenaline kick."
Earlier in the match Robben was already involved in two possible penalty moments, of which the one in the first half was a clear penalty and the second a clear dive.
According to Mexican coach Herrera the penalty in injury-time should not have been given by referee Pedro Proenca.
"That boy (Robben) was diving during the whole match after another dive the referee points to the penalty spot," Herrera said.
Mexico have now been eliminated in the round of last 16 in the last six World Cup editions: 1994 against Bulgaria, 1998 against Germany, 2002 against USA, 2006 against Argentina and 2010 against Argentina.
"I think that the team have played well this whole World Cup," Herrera concluded. "We've achieved some very good things, but nobody can take away the bitter taste of this defeat. We did a good job but made mistakes, while the Netherlands did a great job to hold on, keep fighting and finally turn the scoreline around."
"But this wasn't the Dutch team everyone's been talking about, this is a side that's vulnerable and can be beaten," he added. "In physical terms, we never dipped, we were solid and we fought to the final whistle. In my view, my players were extraordinary."
While the Mexican will return home the Netherlands moved to their base camp in Rio de Janeiro and on Saturday the Dutch play Costa Rica, which beat Greece after penalties, in the quarter-finals.
