Netherlands midfielder Arjen Robben admitted he dove once in Sunday's 2014 World Cup match against Mexico, but he insisted he didn't when the controversial penalty was called at the end. The penalty gave the Netherlands the win, advancing the Dutch to the quarterfinals.
Robben conceded he dove once in the first half, but he was adamant the penalty that led to the Netherlands' win was called correctly.
"The one at the end was a clear penalty but I have to admit there was an incident in the first half where I did dive," Robben told Dutch television, via the Independent. "I must apologise. I should not be doing that."
Referee Pedro Proenca called Mexico defender Rafa Marquez for tripping Robben. Because the foul happened inside the goal box, the Netherlands received an automatic penalty kick.
Netherlands forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar took the kick and converted, completing the Netherlands' comeback and advancing them over Mexico with a 2-1 win.
After the match, Mexico boss Miguel Herrera accused Robben of flopping and demanded Proenca be sent home from the World Cup.
While Herrera was understandably irate, Netherlands boss Louis Van Gaal applauded his team for not quitting.
"I have to give credit to my players: I think they were in much better shape and much more focused than our opponents. They never stopped believing, right to the end. They showed belief and a lot of confidence," Van Gaal said, via FIFA.com. "We took advantage of the water break to tweak our system and created loads of chances, some of them denied by the woodwork and others by a keeper who has been fantastic."
Van Gaal used the water breaks to realign his team from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3, according to the Independent.
"This is a coach who wants to win tournaments," said Van Gaal, "and to do that I have to make changes."
