Brazil World Cup 2014: Quarterfinals: Netherlands vs. Costa Rica:
QUARTER-FINALS
Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador
NETHERLANDS COSTA RICA
FULL-TIME: 0-0 Netherlands win on penalties (4 - 3)
Team stats
20 Total shots 6
15 Shots on goal 3
15 Fouls 13
64% Possession(%) 36%
11 Corners 1
3 Saves 14
13 Offsides 2
"In terms of team spirit and togetherness, this is the best group I've worked with. I thought we had more quality than Costa Rica and deserved to win. I don’t know how much ball possession we had, how many times we hit the woodwork and how many chances we had – in the end it’s all about scoring:" - Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal's impression of the Netherlands Costa Rica match..
Costa Rica showed talent and surprised World Cup 2014 fans and were on track to cause an upset against the more experienced FIFA World Cup teams. And the scoreless tie with Netherlands was testimony to Costa Rica's rising prominence in international football.
The 120 mn of match play saw no goals in the Netherlands Costa Rica quarterfinals. Van Gaal's made a switch from Jasper Cillesen to Newcastle man Tim Krul and that was the winning strategy in the penalty shootout. The Netherlands goalie made two saves and the Dutch made their entry into the semifinals after barely sliding through the 4-3 win over Costa Rica in the Brazil World Cup 2014 quarterfinals.
The first save for Krul came from a shot by Brian Ruz. Michael Umana was denied a goal in the second save and that was enough to put Netherlands through to the semifinals. The Netherlands win over Costa Rica will put them in a semifinals spar with Argentina, who seemed the dominant team against Belgium in a narrow 1-0 victory. Netherlands will have to up their game to overcome the fine-tuned Argentina team with valiant Messi directing play on the pitch.
Argentina's1-0 win over Belgium foreshadows the South Americans have plenty of arsenal to conquer European playmaking and the Dutch will have to regroup to make their game play more effective against Argentina's defense.
