Ron Vlaar's penalty came agonisingly close to crossing the line during Holland's World Cup semi-final shootout defeat by Argentina

• Vlaar missed the opening spot-kick in Wednesday night's lottery
• The Aston Villa defender's shot almost caught out Sergio Romero
• Vlaar watched as his effort spun towards the goal and stopped on the line
  

By John Drayton for MailOnline

Published: 19:39 EST, 10 July 2014 | Updated: 08:54 EST, 11 July 2014

Ron Vlaar's penalty came within inches of crossing the line during Holland's heartbreaking shootout defeat against Argentina on Wednesday night.

The Aston Villa defender and Wesley Sneijder were both denied by Sergio Romero as the Dutch lost 4-2 on spot-kicks after the World Cup semi-final ended goalless.

However, Vlaar's opening kick almost left Romero red faced, who was too busy celebrating his save to notice the ball creeping back towards the goal.

VIDEO Scroll down to see Ron Vlaar's spot-kick go agonisingly close to crossing the line

Heartbreak: Ron Vlaar looks back as his penalty stops on the line

Dejected: Vlaar trudges off after his penalty failed to cross the line

Villain: Vlaar reacts to his missed penalty as Holland's shootout got off to the worst possible start

Fortunately for the Argentina keeper, the ball stopped just short as his country went on to book a final showdown with Germany on Sunday and consign Holland to a third-place play-off.

FIFA's rules on penalty shootouts clear the matter up, stating: 'A kick is successful if, having been touched once by the kicker, the ball crosses the goal line between the goal posts and under the crossbar, without touching any player, official, or outside agent other than the defending goalkeeper.

'The ball may touch the goalkeeper, goal posts, or crossbar any number of times before going into the goal as long as the referee believes the ball's motion is the result of the initial kick.'

This was clarified after an incident in the 1986 World Cup shootout between Brazil and France. Bruno Bellone's spot-kick rebounded off the post and hit Brazilian goalkeeper Carlos before rolling into the net.

Hero to zero: Vlaar's impressive display was overshadowed by his failure from 12 yards

Nightmare start: Vlaar looks on as Sergio Romero guesses the right way to keep out his kick

VIDEO Argentina scrape into fifth semi final

Louis van Gaal revealed two players had refused to take the first penalty as Vlaar's miss saw Holland get off to the worst possible start.

He said: 'You need to score the first one and I asked two players to take the first ball before ending up with Vlaar.

'I thought he was the best player on the pitch so should have a lot of confidence. It just goes to show it's not easy scoring in a penalty shoot-out.'

  VIDEO  Watch the shootout between Brazil and France in 1986 - including Bruno Bellone

Hero: Romero denied Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder in the shootout