How Arjen Robben's speed makes him impossible to defend

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Speed kills, and Arjen Robben is lethal on the pitch. 

The Dutch winger's pace was on full display once again on Saturday night in Salvador, as he ran Costa Rica's defenders ragged for 120 minutes before the Oranje finally prevailed in a penalty shootout to book a place in the semifinal.

Everybody always asks the same question with the the left-footed Robben, whose right foot is more of a novelty item than a useful weapon: Why can't anybody consistently stop him? He run down the wing, gets to the corner of the penalty area and cuts inside on his left foot. You know exactly what's coming. We all do.

You should be able to combat that in some way, right? While the very best defenders are masters of reading what is going to happen and getting ahead of it, defending is largely reactionary.

So why can't defenders simply put themselves in the right position to cut off Robben's cut inside and make a tackle when he finally does make his move?

The answer is simple. Speed.

If Robben wasn't blessed with his blistering pace, he would be significantly less threatening. As we saw against Costa Rica on multiple occasions, the Dutchman is able to take advantage of defenders expecting him to go left by pushing the ball down the line and using his breakaway speed to get around the outside.

The defender then has a decision: Put a leg in and risk a foul (possibly a penalty) or let him go. It's an unenviable position, stuck between a rock and hard place. Neither of the options are very good, and the situation is created because of Robben's speed.

Official match stats had Robben running 54 sprints during the Netherlands' quarterfinal win, clocked at a top speed of 31.61 kilometers per hour. That's faster than anyone else on the team.

He was relentless, making the same penetrating runs in the second half of extra time as he did in the opening minutes of the match.

Argentina will be well aware of the threat posed by the 30-year-old heading into their semifinal contest next week. Alejandro Sabella will likely dedicate much of his team's work on the training pitch to stopping Robben. He should.

But even the best plan can be foiled by speed. When it comes to utilizing that asset, Robben has no equal.