Playmaker Sneijder in line for major trophy number four

Cape Town

Netherlands playmaker Wesley Sneijder is on course to clinch every trophy he played for this season after the Dutch beat Uruguay in the first World Cup semi-final on Tuesday.

Sneijder won the Italian double and Champions League with his club, Inter Milan, and now is set to feature in the World Cup final and could even end the tournament as top scorer.

"This is a great achievement and wonderful thing for the Netherlands, winning six matches in a row (at the World Cup finals) and now we have five days to prepare us for one more 90 minutes," Sneijder told reporters.

"This is so special. I experienced it already with Inter, playing a final is special and you must savour the moment as it doesn’t happen very often.

"I have told my team to savour it and enjoy it then give it all you’ve got," he added.

The Dutch had a tough second half after Uruguay replied to Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s opening goal by Diego Forlan just before the break but a tactical change effectively settled the match.

With Rafael van der Vaart beside him, Sneijder moved forward and restored the lead 20 minutes from time with a deflected shot, his fifth of the tournament which levelled him with Spain’s David Villa.

"It was a tough match and at the end we made it unnecessarily difficult but we won and that was what it was all about," said Sneijder.

"When you get in such a situation you just have to shoot and if you are lucky the ball goes in," he said of his goal.

"Wesley Sneijder plays a very important role," said coach Bert van Marwijk. "But it is also very important that everyone on the bench can play as well."

Meanwhile, British tabloid journalist, Simon Wright, will go to trial in a South African court after prosecutors rejected his bid to have charges related to the World Cup tournament dropped, the court heard yesterday.

Wright was arrested and charged with helping Pavlos Joseph illegally enter the England dressing room after their goalless draw against Algeria in Cape Town on June 18. The reporter, who had to surrender his passport and has to report to Cape Town police station every day, will be asked to plea when his trial starts on Saturday in the Cape Town Magistrates court.

Joseph agreed to pay a 750 rand ($97.28) fine and prosecutors dropped criminal proceedings against the England fan last week.

— Reuters