article: Media playback is not supported on this device Coach Louis van Gaal could see the Netherlands were wilting, the life ebbing out of their World Cup in temperatures of 39C and in the face of Mexican resilience. Van Gaal's team were trailing 1-0 to Mexico in their last-16 tie but he saw an opportunity to breathe life back into Dutch hopes and took it. Such was the intense heat in Fortaleza on Brazil's north-east coast that Fifa had approved the use of cooling breaks for the first time. Nor was staying cool a problem restricted to the players. The heat in the stadium had been so severe that thousands of fans were unable to take their designated seats because they were in direct sunlight. But as the shadows grew longer, they crept forward from their shaded positions at the back of stands to get a closer view of the unfolding drama. The second cooling break came with 15 minutes remaining, and by then one team clearly needed it more than the other. The Netherlands squad crowded around their manager, like basketball players in a time-out. In the centre Van Gaal was speaking, his players listening. He pointed to a clipboard in his hand, indicating a tactical change that might not be for the purists but would win them the game. The Netherlands had trained for this moment. They had begun the day playing 5-3-2, then switched to 4-3-3, and Van Gaal was about to play his final card. Dirk Kuyt, winning his 100th cap, had started as a left wing-back, been moved to right-back and was now being told to play up front. Robin van Persie was taken out of the action, on came Klaas Jan Huntelaar. This was, to all intents and purposes, 4-4-2. "This manager wanted to win - I had to substitute Robin," said Van Gaal. "The cooling break allowed me to move to another plan. We had trained this way, Huntelaar and Kuyt as strikers, playing long balls to them." It was a long way from the "total football" made famous by the Dutch in the 1970s, but as their 2014 campaign threatened to unravel, the moment called for something different. "He is one of the best, or maybe the best tactically," Kuyt said. "It doesn't matter what system we are playing we know exactly what to do. He told us before the game already that we could switch to this system when we were 1-0 down." The players turned away, threw off the ice towels, put down the drinks and walked back onto the field with a new sense of purpose. Within minutes Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa somehow kept out Stefan de Vrij's close-range volley from a corner, pushing it against the post with an instinctive blur of his hands. "Their goalkeeper made some unbelievable saves," said Dutch defender Ron Vlaar. "Then we got another corner kick and Wesley [Sneijder] said to me this one is going in. I don't think he thought he would score but it happened." It was Huntelaar's header that made it, Sneijder
summary: In the pressure cooker heat of Estadio Castelao, one man kept his cool.