Netherland´s late victory, Costa Rica´s sensation
The Netherlands have qualified for the quarter finals of FIFA World Cup 2014. A very intense match with Mexico saw them being one behind up to minute 88 before two late goals turned things around for Luis van Gaal´s team. Their next opponent will be Costa Rica, probably the biggest surprise of the cup, as they beat Greece in penalty shootout.
Bryan Ruiz scored the lead for his team and stayed cool during the penalty shootout.
With up to 29 degrees Celsius in the shade and an absolute humidity of 70 percent the circumstances of the round of the last 16 match between Netherlands and Mexico were pretty rough for the players and even spectators. Mexico had been the better team for most of the match and scored a well-earned leading goal just after the break in persona of dos Santos.
The goal was the wakeup-call for the Netherlands as the team around superstar Arjen Robben put up the heat and attacked the Mexican box. Their goal keeper Ochoa prevented the equalizer several times before a corner kick in minute 88 of strong playing Arjen Robben landed on the head of Huntelaar who passed the ball back to Sneijder who hammered the ball into the net. The Mexicans were shocked and just moments later a foul on Robben in the box lead to a penalty that Huntelaar used for the finishing blow against Mexico.
The score was 2:1 and Mexico had been kicked out of the cup in just six minutes. Netherlands on the other side will meet a team in next round that probably nobody would have expected to go that deep before the tournament. Costa Rica, a team that had finished first in a group with Uruguay, England and Italy, faced Greece in the other match of the day.
After a rather uneventful match Costa Rica was one in front just up to the last minutes of the game but had to play with one man less for most of second half. Greek defender Sokratis equalized in overtime and Greece then dominates the 30 minutes of extra time but as it was still 1:1 the penalty shootout had to decide. All Costa Rican players scored before Gekas missed for Greece and sealed their fate. Now the small Middle American country has made it to the quarter finals for the first time in history.
