Holland is through to the quarter finals of the World Cup and it’s nothing short of miraculous, the Dutch papers write.

Not Oranje but Mexico were the more dangerous side, writes the AD. ‘Jasper Gilessen had a close shave as Hector Herrera narrowly missed. Rob Vlaar was on hand to help the goalkeeper who, in the 49th minute, had no chance against Giovanni Dos Santos’ unstoppable blast’, the paper writes.

Apology Robben

According to the AD, Oranje should have been awarded a penalty in the first half: ‘The referee probably didn’t quite trust Robben’, it writes diplomatically, referring to the player’s reputation as a diver.

In an interview with broadcaster NOS, the striker himself is less circumspect. Robben acknowledged he dived on one occasion outside the box but he left the viewers in no doubt that the penalty when it came was thoroughly deserved and that he should have been awarded not one but two penalties before half-time. The player showed remorse, however. ‘I want to apologise. I dived. Sometimes you expect a kick.. but I really shouldn’t do this. I was very stupid’, he told NOS.

Golden substitution

NRC compliments trainer Louis van Gaal on ‘another golden substitution’. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who scored the winning goal in the final minutes of the game, is quoted as saying: ‘To come into the game at this late stage and to score..That’s fantastic. Arjen Robben got the ball first but then he turned around and asked if I wanted to take the penalty. I missed my last one so when I was put on the spot the pressure was on. I knew the goalkeepers always go for the corner here but I didn’t have the balls to go for a centre shot. But it went in and that was fantastic. Scoring is the best drug there is.’

The paper calls the final six minutes of the match ‘the miracle of Fortaleza’. ‘When injury time came Robben decided to lie down for a change. The previous three, four, five times referee Proença ignored him. This time he decided on a penalty.’

Team spirit

In the Volkskrant, Louis van Gaal praises the squad’s team spirit. The trainer, who said he was happy the referee allowed the players two cooling breaks to cope with the sweltering heat, was surprised to find his team the fitter of the two. ‘I knew we were capable of a last effort. It’s great it actually happened. It’s incredible we made a come-back in such difficult circumstances. And to think we expected the Mexicans to be able to tolerate the heat better than we could’, the paper quotes him as saying.

The tweet of the evening came from KLM which showed a departure sign with a picture of a Mexican sporting a moustache and a sombrero and the text ‘Adios Amigos!’ The airline removed the tweet post haste after some furious reactions accusing the airline of racism.

Oranje’s next opponent on Saturday July 5 will be Costa Rica who – finally – beat Greece on penalties. Costa Rica will have to do without midfielder Oscar Duarte who collected a red card.