Spielwiese » attempt to fast-forward the process with short-sighted,

The Netherlands can reach its second consecutive World Cup final with a victory over Argentina on Wednesday at the Area de Sao Paulo. Listen to the game live on TSN 1050, TSN 690, TSN 1200, TSN 1260 and TEAM 1410 at 4pm et/1pm pt. The Dutch reached the World Cup final in South Africa in 2010 after topping Uruguay, 3-2, but faced Spain in the final and fell 1-0. Louis van Gaals side will surely draw motivation for Wednesdays clash from that defeat, something not lost on midfielder Wesley Sneijder. "Sometimes you have to suffer to obtain success," he said. "The final in 2010 was very painful but the disappointment drives you on. "We feel we have more experience, a strong squad, some great players and now we know it is so close for us again. We have come through so much together and grown with the tournament. Now it gets even harder." The Dutch should be riding high on confidence after knocking off the tournaments Cinderella squad on Saturday, topping Costa Rica 4-3 on penalty kicks after the sides played to a scoreless draw in extra time. The Dutch controlled much of the match but only created their first real scoring opportunity in the 21st minute when Robin van Persie latched on to Memphis Depays through ball and fired a left-footed shot on target, but Keylor Navas was able to parry the attempt to the top of the penalty area. The clearance only went as far as Sneijder, who lashed the rebound back toward goal, but Navas was equal to the task once again. Navas denied Sneijder again in the 39th minute when the Galatasaray midfielder uncorked a brilliant free kick from distance that looked destined for the upper corner, but the Levante keeper pushed the shot aside to send the two sides into halftime scoreless. The Dutch continued to find scoring chances in extra time as Costa Rica looked absolutely exhausted. Sneijder hit the woodwork for a second time when he took a layoff from Jeremain Lens in the 119th minute and curled a superb effort toward goal with his favorite right foot, and a relieved Navas could only help but watch the strike come back into play off the crossbar. Heading into the penalty shootout, Van Gaal used his final substitution to replace goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen with Newcastle United keeper Tim Krul and the move was a masterstroke as Krul stopped two Costa Rica penalties to hand his side the victory. "In terms of team spirit and togetherness, this is the best group Ive worked with. I thought we had more quality than Costa Rica and deserved to win. I dont know how much ball possession we had, how many times we hit the woodwork and how many chances we had -- in the end its all about scoring," Van Gaal said. "We have practiced pens, I believe when youre used to a certain way of shooting youll be more comfortable taking that shot. We told Tim Krul that he would be the best goalkeeper for the penalties as hes bigger; we didnt tell Cillessen, as we didnt want to ruin his preparation and concentration. There is no question about who will start next game, it will be Cillessen. But we felt Krul was the better choice here -- and he proved that. He guessed the correct way for every penalty." Argentina heads into its first semifinal since 1990 hoping to earn a chance to play for its third Jules Rimet trophy, having already advanced further than their 2010 campaign when the side was thumped, 4-0, by Germany in the quarterfinals. Argentina also knocked off a potential Cinderella in the quarterfinals after earning a 1-0 victory over Belgium courtesy of a goal from Gonzalo Higuain at the Estadio Nacional. Through this World Cup, Argentinas performances have left plenty to be desired, but theyve gotten the necessary results and Wednesday represents an opportunity to put in a quality performance against a very good opponent. The goal came after just eight minutes as Angel Di Maria attempted to deliver a pass into the penalty area that was deflected by a Belgium defender. The ball fell kindly to the feet of Higuain and he hammered a first-time shot perfectly inside the left post. "Ever since the first game Ive been saying that I wasnt worried, that my first goal would come, and fortunately it came at a crucial time," Higuain said. "Its been a long time since Argentina reached the semifinals and Im happy its this group of players that managed it, because they deserve it. Now we want to keep going and reach the final." Alejandro Sabellas team will have a significant void to fill on Wednesday as Di Maria was forced off the pitch in the 33rd minute with a thigh injury 33rd minute, was replaced by Enzo Perez, and is unavailable for Wednesday. Despite the injury, Sabellas team will hope for more than just a semifinal appearance. "Weve achieved our minimum objective, which was to reach the last four, but we want more. Thats what weve come for," Sabella said. cheap nfl jerseys .com) - Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were among the third-round winners Friday at the French Open. nfl jerseys china .com) - A chant of Zeke reverberated around AT&T Stadium before Ezekiel Elliott powered into the end zone for his fourth and final touchdown. http://www.nfljerseyscheapfromchina.cc/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. cheap jerseys from china .com) - The Golden State Warriors have started another winning streak and theyll try to pad it Tuesday night when they head to Staples Center to face the Los Angeles Lakers. cheap nfl jerseys china .The Ottawa Senators winger was relegated to a corner seat in the locker-room to allow Daniel Alfredsson to return to his regular stall one last time.VANCOUVER – More than five years after he was fired as the ninth (and youngest) general manager in Canucks history, Dave Nonis is back home in B.C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. He had not been hired by new ownership, didnt align with their philosophies ultimately and paid the price for it. But did the man who helped construct a future Stanley Cup finalist, someone who pulled the trigger on a franchise-altering swap for Roberto Luongo, get a fair shake in Vancouver? "I dont think you can do that," said Nonis with no hint of bitterness amid a conversation with the Leaf Report on Friday afternoon. "Whether thats the case or not, I look back and say that the pieces that we left in place were very important pieces to the success of the team. If you look at how they did for a long period after we were there they were very successful. So you take some pride in that. In terms of not getting a fair shake, I think theres a lot of people in our business that can say that. For me, Id rather look at what we left and how well they performed." Nonis was promoted to the top job with the Canucks in 2004 – he was 37 at the time – replacing boss and close friend Brian Burke for the first time. Building on the foundations he and Burke had already worked to establish in years prior, Nonis would draft future All-Star Alex Edler and future No. 1 goalie Cory Schneider. He would hire future Jack Adams winner Alain Vigneault. Hed add Willie Mitchell via free agency, a looming mainstay on the blue-line. He would sign the Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler and Sami Salo to respectable, cap-friendly deals. And most notable of all, he would complete one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history, snatching Luongo from Florida. "I think that we felt we were going in the right direction," the Burnaby, B.C. native said. Though they would fall just shy of the playoffs in his first season – he was actually promoted prior to the 2004-05 lockout – the Canucks would shatter franchise records the next year, totaling 49 wins and 105 points. They were ousted in the second round by the eventual Cup champion Ducks, a squad led by current Leafs coach Randy Carlyle, but were clearly moving in the right direction. Year No. 3 though brought with it much frustration for Nonis and the Vancouver faithful. Ravaged by injuries, most notably on defence, the Canucks would limp to the finish line and miss out on the postseason by three points for the second time in three seasons. Rather than salvage the season (and ultimately his job) with short-term fixes via trade, Nonis declined, refusing to mortgage the foundations of what would be a prized future. It is believed that a trade for then-Lightning star Brad Richards was there to be had, a deal that would have cost Vancouver an embarrassment of young riches, Schneider prominently among them. Nonis refused to comment on the matter, but its evident from history that he declined, unwilling to hurt the teams future for the sake of his own job. "If you wouldve moved pieces, good young pieces, just to try and squeak in, that team never wouldve had a chance to win," he said. "If your ultimate goal is to try to win you have to be able to be patient and not have knee-jerk reactions to problems." Nonis would be fired for his efforts nine days after the season concluded. Springing for a leader of his own choosing, new owner Francesco Aquilini would select Mike Gillis nine days after his predecessor had been let go. Just as he predicted in the hours after his firing, the Canucks would go on to great things in the years that followed. They would finish with 100-plus points in four straight seasons after his dismissal, reaching the Cup Final in 2011. "The pieces that were there were young and stable and improving and then if things went well they would have a chance and thats how it played out," Nonis said. Now holding his second general manager gig in Torontto – he signed a new five-year deal in the summer at the urging of MLSE President Tim Leiweke – Nonis says the experience in Vancouver, which began in 1990, ultimately proved beneficial.dddddddddddd "Youre never going to make all the right decisions – I definitely didnt make all the right ones when I was in Vancouver," he said. "But I think you learn [that] if you think youre going in the right direction, that the blueprint you have in place makes sense, then you have to have the will to follow it through. I believe thats the case for all teams that are competitive. Very few teams that are competitive in our league just fall on the GMs lap." Struck by the patience of his first boss with the Canucks, Pat Quinn, Nonis would glean additional tips of the trade from those around him in the ensuing years – "theres a lot of people in this league that are very good at what they do and have done a better job than Ive ever done" – including Burke during stints in Anaheim and Toronto. He would take note of what others around the league had done, how contenders in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago and St. Louis were built. He saw how theyd establish a foundation of core players and then allow that core to grow and eventually win together. "You can count a lot of Stanley Cups on those teams," Nonis said. Though the Leafs have the early blocks of such a core – after trades for Phaneuf, Kessel, van Riemsdyk, Lupul, Bernier and Gardiner as well as the drafting of Kadri and Rielly among others – the team has not yet reached Noniss preferred destination. What he wants is continued progress in a positive direction, with his Leafs leading the Eastern Conference entering a Saturday affair with the Canucks. "We think its going the right way," said Nonis, at the helm when the club snapped a nine-year playoff drought last spring. "Were not where we need to be, but were a lot better than we were. The reserve list is stronger than it was. Our farm team is younger and still remaining competitive. Theres a lot of good things happening, but theres still a lot of room for improvement. I dont think we could stand up and said that were close to done. We have a lot of work yet to do and if we want to get to be one of those elite teams. I wouldnt say were a long way away, but we definitely need to continue to improve and add the pieces that those upper-echelon teams have." The early returns from his first offseason as Leafs general manager have been positive, most notably in the performance of 27-year-old Dave Bolland and 25-year-old Jonathan Bernier, both acquired via trade this past summer. David Clarkson, Noniss pricey first free agent signing, has played just four games – after serving a 10-game suspension – but has offered hints of the edge and personality he promised to bring after years in New Jersey. For whatever success the Leafs achieve this season you can be sure that Nonis will not attempt to fast-forward the process with short-sighted, short-term fixes. Its why hes not inclined to move first round picks or young players for aging talent. His blueprint features a young core that will take steps together, progressing as the Canucks eventually did after his dismissal. "If youre a deep enough team you can trade away a top prospect and not even feel it then youve done a really good job of building your reserve list and your farm system and you can move those prospects for pieces that might put you over the top," said Nonis. "Were not there yet. We need to continue to add those pieces so I wouldnt say we would never move a first round pick or a young player, but if we do at least at this stage of our development itll be for another young player; its not going to be for an older player." Nonis will enter Rogers Arena on Saturday afternoon full of pride, both for what was eventually accomplished in Vancouver and the promise on the horizon in Toronto. "Progress is the most important word," Nonis said. "If you continue to show progress year after year eventually youre going to put yourself in a pretty good position." ' ' '