Either of these sides would be worthy World Cup finalists and it might be just one goal that separates Argentina and the Netherlands at full-time.
It is the South Americans that are favoured to set up a massive showdown with Germany on Sunday but they are far from overwhelming jollies and it is easy to see why.
Argentina are perhaps coming to the boil at just the right time having taken care of Belgium fairly comfortably in the last eight but the Netherlands are riding the crest of a wave and draw plenty of inspiration from their manager.
Louis Van Gaal’s decision to thrust Tim Krul into the penalty shootout spotlight minutes before seeing the goalkeeper prove the hero versus Costa Rica will never be forgotten but he would have been frustrated by how wasteful his forwards had been during regulation.
Plenty of chances came and went against the Central Americans and the Netherlands had also proven careless in front of goal versus Mexico before scoring twice in the dying minutes to overhaul their opponents, Wesley Sneijder with the dramatic injury-time winner.
In fact, the opening 5-1 demolition of Spain seems a long time ago now and I think the Netherlands perhaps peaked a shade too early.
That remains to be seen of course but they cannot squander opportunities on Wednesday against an Argentina defence that has looked the most robust on show at these finals.
Consecutive clean sheets in the knockout stage haven been impressive and if Argentina can shutout their opponents, success is always likely to be forthcoming with Lionel Messi in their line up.
Messi has excelled so far, scoring four goals and always attracting plenty of attention to free space for others, and promises to be the best player on show once more in São Paulo.
It was Gonzalo Higuain who was the hero versus Marc Wilmots’ side in the quarter-finals and that was no surprise. The Napoli striker is a handful for any defence and he has performed admirably in the absence of first-choice injured striker, Sergio Aguero.
Given their strength at the back, a single Higuain strike might well do the trick again but Argentina have plenty of players capable of being the match-winner and if they keep a clean sheet while progressing, I’ll be a very happy man.
1pt Back Argentina To Win To Nil (vs. Netherlands) @ 11/4 (Bet 365)