2014fwc_tsg_report_15082014_neutral

Story of the tournament 13side. Having gone into the interval goalless,the Mexicans made a flying start to the secondhalf when Dos Santos volleyed home beyondthe despairing dive of keeper Cillessen (1) inthe 48 th minute. The Netherlands fought backhard, however, with the efforts of Sneijder(10) and Robben either going only inches wideor being denied by Ochoa (13). Coach Louisvan Gaal chose his moment to make a smarttactical change during the cooling break inthe heat of Fortaleza by sending on Huntelaar(19) who duly set up Sneijder’s volleyedequaliser and then converted the injury-timespot kick to take the Dutch through to thequarter-finals in dramatic fashion.Costa Rica v. Greece 1-1 a.e.t. (1-1, 0-0),5-3 PSOThe match was cagy right from the initialexchanges as both keepers went largelyuntested. The game became more of acontest after the break when La Sele captainRuiz (10) placed a precise shot low into thecorner to give the Ticos the lead in the 52 ndminute. After going down to ten men whenDuarte (6) received a second yellow card,Costa Rica dropped further back to defendtheir lead. The Greeks, meanwhile, threweverything forward to save the match, but theoutstanding Navas (1) kept them at bay. TheGreek breakthrough came in injury time whenPapastathopoulos (19) equalised to force thegame into extra time. Greece relied too muchon deep deliveries into the box while La Selekept all ten men behind the ball. Penalty kickswere inevitable and Costa Rica won a thrillingshoot-out 5-3 to go through to their first-everWorld Cup quarter-final.France v. Nigeria 2-0 (0-0)This was an extremely close contest betweenthe two teams as Les Bleus were well resistedby the African side, notably by the in-formkeeper Enyeama (1). However, it wasn’t allone-way traffic as the Super Eagles alsoformed some strong attacks, but defendersKoscielny (21) and Varane (4) dealt withthese excellently. As the game entered itslatter stages, Nigeria made an unfortunateerror from a corner to allow Pogba (19) tohead home, and Les Bleus confirmed theirwin when a fast-paced cross caught out theunfortunate Yobo (2) who put the ball past hisown keeper, sending the Frenchmen marchinginto the next round.Germany v. Algeria 2-1 a.e.t.The first half provided plenty of entertainmentas Algeria started off at a high tempo, withstriker Slimani (13) causing plenty of problemsfor the Germans. Keeper Neuer (1) had to bealert enough to rush out of his area to snuffout the danger on several occasions. Müllerand Özil (8) had their own share of chancesbut saw them all denied by keeper Mbolhi(23). Algeria began to struggle in the secondhalf as Germany took the game by the scruffof the neck, although the German efforts stillcouldn’t beat Mbolhi. When the match wentto extra time, substitute Schürrle (9) and Özilboth scored, showing the Germans’ superiority,though Algeria were able to register a lateconsolation goal.Argentina v. Switzerland 1-0 a.e.t.Argentina squeezed into the quarter-finalsthanks to a last-gasp extra-time winner fromDi María (7). Messi had a quiet game, onlytesting Benaglio (1) the Swiss keeper on twooccasions, but played a key role in settingup Di María’s goal. The Swiss looked themore dangerous in attack with impressivestrikes from Xhaka (10) and Lichtsteiner (2)both denied by keeper Romero (1). TheArgentinians dominated the second half, butcouldn’t find a way past Benaglio. Late inextra time as the Swiss sought an equaliser,substitute Dzemaili (15) saw his header hit thepost and sent the rebound wide from just twometres leaving the Albicelestes very relievedand with a place in the quarter-finals.Belgium v. USA 2-1 a.e.t.Belgium made a blazing start with youngstriker Origi (17) and De Bruyne (7)particularly active in attack, though theUS keeper Howard (1) was equal to everyattempt on goal. The match seemed tosettle after the frenetic start, with the USAgradually managing to impose their style onproceedings. Bradley (4) and Dempsey (8)