Goalkeeper Sergio Romero, whose heroics helped Argentina beat the Netherlands on penalties on Wednesday to progress to the World Cup final, said he was confident going into the shootout in Sao Paulo.
“Penalties are all about luck, that is the reality. I had confidence and thanks to God it turned out well,” he admitted.
“We go away happy and now we will prepare for the final from tomorrow. The moment should be enjoyed and we are going step by step.”
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Romero’s place in the national squad was the subject of debate going into the tournament after he spent almost all of the last season on the bench at Ligue 1 club AS Monaco.
However, his saves from Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder helped Argentina win 4-2 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes at the Arena Corinthians and set up a final clash with Germany in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
“Let’s enjoy it. I am immensely happy,” said Romero.
“We have hoped for this since the first day. These lads never give away anything.”
Striker Sergio Aguero, who came off the bench and scored one of his side’s penalties, was equally ecstatic at reaching the final.
“Very happy. This means so much. A lot of people didn’t think Argentina would get to the final but we knew what players we had, very good players individually.
“The match was about seeing who make a mistake and nobody did,” added the Manchester City striker.
Meanwhile, The defeat had an extra twist for Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, who joked, “I taught Romero to stop penalties, so that hurts.” Van Gaal had worked with the keeper during his four-year stint at AZ Alkmaar.
Van Gaal also admitted he wanted to use substitute keeper Tim Krul in the penalty shoot-out defeat.
Van Gaal said he would have taken off goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen for Krul – in a repeat of the gambit which won the quarter-final with Costa Rica – but had run out of substitutes.
“I would have done it by I had already used my three substitutes so I couldn’t do it,” van Gaal said when asked if he’d thought about bringing on Krul.
It meant that Krul, who saved two spot-kicks against Costa Rica, was a frustrated spectator on the bench as Argentina prevailed in the shootout.
Van Gaal’s counterpart Alejandro Sabella spoke of his “great joy” after the victory.
“It’s a great joy. It was a very difficult, very close match,” said Sabella.
“I’m happy. We’re in the final. We’ll see what we can do with one day less recovery time (compared to Germany) and after penalties.
“Bu we’ll give everything: humility, hard work, 100 per cent. We’ll see if that’s enough for us to win.”
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