WORLD CUP: Netherlands 3, Uruguay 2

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, July 6 (UPI) -- Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben had second-half goals 3 minutes apart Tuesday, lifting the Netherlands into the World Cup finals with a 3-2 win over Uruguay.

Sneijder sent a low shot into the net in the 70th minute and Robben followed in the 73rd minute, whipping in a head shot, putting the Netherlands in the World Cup finals for the third time.

The Netherlands played in the World Cup final in 1974 and 1978 but lost each time.

The Dutch will play either Germany or Spain, who were to play their semifinal Wednesday, for the 2010 World Cup championship Sunday. Uruguay will meet the Spain-Germany semifinal loser in a third-place game Saturday.

Sneijder's goal was his fifth of the World Cup, tying him for the most in the tournament with Spain's David Villa.

Robben's goal came off a pass from Dirk Kuyt that Robben headed hard into a lower corner.

The teams traded long first-half goals. Giovanni Van Bronckhorst struck first for the Netherlands with a 30-yard shot into the upper right of the goal in the 18th minute with a shot from left of the box that curved inside the far post.

Diego Forlan answered for Uruguay in the first half with a long shot from the middle of the pitch outside the box that Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg stretched for but wasn't able to get enough of the ball to steer it away.

Uruguay finished the scoring in stoppage time with a goal from Maximiliano Pereira, who bounced a pass past Stekelenburg.