The buildup to this semi-final concentrated heavily on Lionel Messi and Arjen Robben – and it felt like both coaches’ team talks were no different. Two of the World Cup’s stars struggled to find space in a tight, tense and tactical encounter and their sides’ dependence upon them became clear, as no one stepped up to provide the attacking spark this game so desperately required.

Argentina were wary of Robben’s drifts into the channels, so Alejandro Sabella kept his full-backs extremely deep. Pablo Zabaleta and Marcos Rojo went on a single attacking run apiece in the first half, and for two naturally aggressive, attacking full-backs, they were extremely cautious throughout the 120 minutes. Argentina missed their overlapping runs to stretch the play, but the benefit was obvious: Robben wasn’t afforded space to receive the ball on the run.

Holland’s method of stopping Messi was simpler – Nigel de Jong returned from injury to play at the base of a reformatted midfield, given the primary task of getting into Messi’s face and preventing him from finding space between the lines, or turning when he received the ball with his back to goal. It was a logical part of a wider strategy Louis van Gaal has deployed throughout this tournament, which essentially involves man-marking in midfield – Lucas Biglia was always tracked by either Wesley Sneijder or Georginio Wijnaldum, while Javier Mascherano found space only in deeper positions, close to his centre-backs.

Argentina spent the first half trying to get Ezequiel Lavezzi in behind Holland’s Bruno Martins Indi, who was dragged out of position too easily Photograph: Illustration/Graphic

Surprisingly, Mascherano offered more creativity than any other midfielder in a magnificent all-round performance. He played some intelligent balls into Holland’s left-back position, because Van Gaal’s use of a back three, in combination with a strict man-marking system, meant Argentina found space in that zone. The left-sided centre-back Bruno Martins Indi was constantly dragged into incredibly narrow, advanced positions, just as he was against Costa Rica, and when a second Argentina player darted forward down the touchline, the Dutch were continually exposed.

Argentina had some particularly promising moments when the quick, tactically disciplined Ezequiel Lavezzi switched to the right midway through the first half, and while Martins Indi was removed at half-time having been booked, Lavezzi still found space to create a good chance for Gonzalo Higuaín with a clever cross. Surprisingly, Lavezzi spent much of the second half on the left, and Enzo Pérez – a converted central midfielder – couldn’t exploit the space so effectively on the right, although his clever cross on 75 minutes allowed Higuaín to poke narrowly wide, into the side-netting. Still, with Holland appearing so vulnerable on the left of their defence, Sabella surely should have deployed Lavezzi there on a more permanent basis.

Sabella introduced Rodrigo Palacio, with the returning Sergio Agüero replacing Higuaín, theoretically offering even more pace into the channels. But Van Gaal’s insistence on keeping a spare man at the back proved useful, and for all Argentina’s promising moments, they struggled to create clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.

Arguably the best opportunity fell to Robben, who was denied by a superb last-ditch sliding tackle from Mascherano, covering behind his centre-backs in addition to protecting them from a more advanced position. The Barcelona player was man of the match by some distance, although that neatly sums up this drab, scrappy contest. It’s hard to imagine Mascherano being the most impressive footballer in an end-to-end, open, engaging match, and it was the game of Mascherano and De Jong, rather than Messi and Robben.