Krul on Costa Rica As They Go Out In A Shootout

Costa Rica players in the penalty shootout.
(Pic Courtesy of FIFA.com)

They knocked out England, beat a masterful Italy, humiliated a toothless Uruguay, snuck past the Greeks, but had a Krul defeat in a penalty shootout against the Dutch. But Costa Rica were phenomenal in their World Cup endeavour. No one gave them a chance after being drawn against three giants, but the little men with giant hearts proved that if you work hard enough collectively, great things are not only a dream but within one's grasps and even if you fail, you'll at least know that you gave it your best shot.

Krul coming up with clutch saves in the shootout.
(Pic Courtesy of FIFA.com)

Jose Luis Pinto's troops did have the roll of the dice on more than one occasion against the Netherlands, with Wesley Sneijder hitting the bar twice, Robin Van Persie spurning a glorious chance with a seemingly open net, allowing Yeltsin Tejeda to clear off the line. Keylor Navas was man of the match. Wait, he was the man of the tournament for Costa Rica, that's how good he was.

RVP had a poor showing in the match, but Wesley Sneijder rediscovered some of his form, with Arjen Robben being a usual menace for the opposing defence. It will be a tough semi-final indeed, and Louis Van Gaal will have lots to do, to get his team in sync to topple Argentina. I still however find it quite perplexing that there are some out there who think Van Gaal is overhyped. Amazing.

Many of Argentina's fans were hoping for Costa Rica to get through, for obvious reasons. Again though, they did not impress, so much as doing just enough against a Belgium side who seemingly mimicked their French counterparts the day before. Devoid of ideas in attack, Sergio Romero barely had to flinch throughout the game.

Higuain with a snapshot, sending Argentina into the semis.
(Pic Courtesy of FIFA.com)

The Red Devils did a job on Messi, but were left wanting as Gonzalo Higuain had a snapshot courtesy of Vincent Kompany's moment of madness of trying to dribble out in front his own box, lost possession of the ball, in about 10 seconds later saw Belgium a goal down.

Messi had a one v one chance in the final two minutes but was saved by Thibaut Courtois. That was it really, in what proved to be a very tasteless game, where a Belgium side, famous for it's scintillating waffles, offered stale ones.

Argentina fans

Brazil fans, distraught after losing Neymar.  

                   
                                                                                                                                          

Fans of Oranje

Germans were very confident against France

After 60 matches involving 32 teams, we're down to the final four. Could Brazil win on home soil without Neymar and Thiago Silva against a masterful German side, or could Argentina rub salt into their rivals' wounds by winning on opposing ground? Of the four teams, only the Dutch have yet to win the golden trophy, being finalists on three occasions but they have an in-form trio of Robben, Van Persie and Sneijder. Can Messi be ruled out though? Or will the Germans, who haven't won the tournament since the Berlin Wall was brought down, finally get rid of their 'Semifinal Specialists' tagline and come good?

It's anyone's guess.

Till next time.