Holland reached the World Cup final for the first time since 1978 after seeing off a spirited Uruguay 3-2 in Cape Town on Tuesday evening.

Bert van Marwijk's side will take on arch-rivals Germany or Spain, who meet in Wednesday's second semi-final.

The game started brightly and it was Oranje who could have grabbed the breakthrough.

Wesley Sneijder's cross from the right was tamely punched away by Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and, as it fell straight to Dirk Kuyt, he could only fire the loose ball over the top.

Holland grabbed the lead in sensational style as Demy de Zeeuw picked out veteran captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst on the left wing.

He looked up before unleashing a terrific effort from 40-yards that flew in off Muslera's far post in what must be the goal of the tournament so far.

Van Marwijk's side were now in control and, within seconds of the re-start, Robin van Persie was almost played in, but a last-gasp tackle from Martin Caceras snuffed out the chance.

With Sneijder and Arjen Robben becoming more involved, Uruguay's defence looked decidedly shaky.  

They had their moments as Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan combined with marauding winger Alvero Pereira posing a prominent threat on the left.

Out of nothing Forlan scored his fourth of the tournament. He picked up Walter Gargano's pass before letting fly from distance.

The ball did not appear to move too much in the air, but Dutch stopper Maarten Stekelenburg made a hash of it and he could only tip his strike into the back of the net with the interval approaching.

Rafael van der Vaart replaced de Zeeuw at the break as Holland searched for the initiative.

Uruguay almost capitalised on a loose back pass, but Stekelenburg reacted ahead of Cavani and Alvaro Pereira's goal-bound follow-up was headed behind by van Bronckhorst.

But as Holland stamped their mark on the contest, Sneijder fired his side back into the lead with 20 minutes to go.

The playmaker's strike was deflected in off Muslera's far post and, with van Persie lurking in a borderline offside position, the linesman's flag stayed down.

Just moments later, another swift counter-attack saw Dirk Kuyt's cross headed majestically beyond a static Muslera by Arjen Robben and the party started in the stands at the Green Point Stadium.

Robben should have made it four as he went clean through, but inside the three additional minutes, the South Americans halved the deficit through Maxi Pereira.

The full-back stayed in an advanced position and, as the ball broke to him, he coolly slotted past Stekelenburg to set up a frantic finale.

Egidio Arevalo Rios saw a powerful strike deflected to safety as Holland stood firm to sneak through to Sunday's showpiece and send the plucky Uruguayans home.