Holland pulled off what may go down as one of the all-time great comebacks in Fortaleza this evening, as two late goals from Wesley Sneijder and Klaas Jan Huntelaar cancelled out an earlier effort from Giovani dos Santos.

With 3 minutes of normal time remaining, Louis van Gaal's Dutch side looked to be down and out. But an edge of the box thunderbolt from Wesley Sneijder and then a cool penalty from Klaas Jan Huntelaar was enough to see off a valiant Mexican effort, with goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa keeping the Oranje at bay for long periods of the game.

Pitchside temperature was recorded at 38.3 degrees celcius, and the heat paved the way for the introduction of "cooling breaks"; official stoppages in play for both sides to take on much needed fluids. Cooling breaks are expected to be seen on regular occasions during the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and this was a welcome addirion as it added to the intensity of the clash.

Holland were forced into an early substitution, with Nigel De Jong replaced by Bruno Martins Indi after sustaining an injury. Mexico seemed to control the early affairs, and other than 2 Dutch penalty claims, El Tri had the main chances, with Herrera scuffing an effort just wide, while Salcido and dos Santos tested Jasper Cillessen.

And it was the latter who managed to break the deadlock in the 48th minute, with the Villarreal man taking a loose ball down on his chest outside of the Netherlands area before rifling an attempt out of the reach of the desperate Cillessen to delight Mexicans, both at home and in Brazil. 

The goal seemed to spur the Dutch out of their comatosed fashion, and they began to attack with gusto and intent. They were met and well matched by Mexican goalkeeper Ochoa, who produced a series of close range saves to deny both De Vrij and Robben, until the 87th minute.

Wesley Sneijder - who just minutes ago had seen a deflected effort fly agonisingly wide, thundered in an effort from the edge of the box after Mexico failed to clear a corner. The sucker punch wwas dealt deep into injury time, with the silky Robben going down theatrically under a Marquez challenge in the area. Up stepped Schalke's Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who calmly placed the ball into the bottom corner, to secure Holland's progression to the quarter finals was without need for extra time. Although the Mexicans were dejected, Dutch joy was clear to see - and van Gaal hopes to work more magic come the next round clash with either Costa Rica or Mexico.