Wesley Sneijder has claimed that the Netherlands struggled to produce their best in Wednesday night's World Cup semi-final as Argentina were playing for penalties.

A 4-2 defeat in the shootout followed 120 goalless minutes in Sao Paulo, and Sneijder believes that it was Argentina's conservative tactics which caused problems for Louis van Gaal's side.

"We deserved more," the 30-year-old told reporters. "Argentina gambled on deciding the game on penalties, while we always tried to win.

"I missed my penalty, I am sorry, but we could also have scored one of our opportunities in the 120 minutes."

Sneijder and Ron Vlaar were the two players who failed to score with their efforts from the spot.