After losing 4-2 to Argentina on penalties in a World Cup semifinal here on Wednesday, Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal said that if he had the opportunity to substitute keeper Jasper Cillessen for the penalty shootout, he would have done it.

After the breathtaking duel ended 0-0 after extra time, spot kicks from Dutch defender Ron Vlaar and playmaker Wesley Sneijder were saved by Argentine goalie Sergio Romero, who was no doubt the Man of the Match. Argentina did not miss a single kick to celebrate their advance to the final.

In the quarterfinals, Van Gaal replaced starting keeper Cillessen with Tim Krul. Mysteriously, the second-choice goalie guessed the right direction on every penalty and gifted his team a win over Costa Rica in the penalty shootout.

But tonight, Van Gaal used all three of his substitutes before the 120 minutes were up.

"I had already used three substitutes, so I couldn't do that," Van Gaal said after the match.

"I substituted Janmaat for Indi because Martins Indi already had a yellow card," Van Gaal said. "I didn't want to take a risk with De Jong because he would be injured. I substituted Van Persie because he was exhausted."

Responding to a question about choosing center-back Vlaar to take the Dutch's first penalty, which Argentina goalie Sergio Romero saved with little trouble, Van Gaal said, "I felt Vlaar was the best player on the pitch and he has a great deal of confidence."

"It's not easy to score a goal in penalties," he added.

Ironically, Van Gaal was Romero's first manager in Europe when the goalkeeper joined Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in 2009.

Romero said after the match,"Van Gaal helped me a lot when I arrived in Holland. He spoke Spanish and helped me a lot. I'm also grateful to Van Gaal and everything he did for me.

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