2014fwc_tsg_report_15082014_neutral

14Story of the tournamentDavid Luiz scored with a powerful direct freekick to add a second goal in the 69 th minute.Ten minutes later Rodríguez scored from thespot to close the gap and the momentumswung in favour of Colombia; they pressedforward for an equaliser, sensing an upsetcould be on the cards. Brazil were forced todefend in numbers and were dealt a blowwhen Neymar was injured seriously enoughto rule him out of the rest of the tournament.Despite the further setback of losing captainSilva to suspension, Brazil marched on to thesemi-finals.France v. Germany 0-1 (0-1)combined well and tested the Belgiandefence. Belgium upped the tempo in thesecond half, with Mertens (14) in particularcausing the USA problems and bringing outan astonishing performance from Howardwho made a World Cup-record number ofsaves to hold the Red Devils to 0-0 until theend of normal time. De Bruyne scored sooninto extra time and substitute Lukaku (9)doubled the advantage before the end of thefirst period. The Americans battled hard andGreen (16) pulled one back, but they were stillunable to escape elimination.Quarter-finalsBrazil v. Colombia 2-1 (1-0)Brazil adopted their usual attacking style inthis contest against Colombia. They went allout and were rewarded with an early goalin just the 7 th minute: from Neymar’s corner,skipper Thiago Silva (3) tapped in from closerange. The goal drew an instant responsefrom Colombia, although Rodríguez, theleading scorer, struggled to impose himselfon the game as the Brazilians harassed andrestricted him every time he had the ball. Hulk(7) had a couple of scoring chances but theywere denied by keeper Ospina (1). The secondperiod offered up a great deal of drama.As expected, the first half was a closelycontested affair, with both sides aiming tonullify each other’s attacking threats. It wasthe Germans who started the brightest andthreatened early on when Kroos (18) had ashot blocked. France hit back with effortsfrom Benzema (10) and Valbuena (8), but theynever really tested Neuer. Kroos then sent in acurling free kick in the 13 th minute that foundHummels (5), who headed home to give theGermans the lead. France desperately chasedthe equaliser but their attempts either missedthe target or were kept out by the keeper.They continued to push forward but thedisciplined and organised German defenceproved difficult to break down and Neuerwas rarely called into action. The best chancearrived in the 77 th minute, but Matuidi’s (14)powerful shot from a tight angle was notgood enough to get past the keeper. Germansubstitute Schürrle twice went close to addinghis name to the score sheet but it matteredlittle that he did not as Germany sealed theirplace in the semi-finals.Netherlands v. Costa Rica 0-0 a.e.t.,5-3 PSODutch coach Van Gaal set out an attacking3-4-3 formation and his side enjoyed plentyof possession early in the game, but it wasnot until after the quarter-hour mark thatthe Costa Rica keeper was tested. Having hadsuccess in the group stage and the round of16, the Ticos kept their 5-4-1 formation andwere once more very organised in defenceand dealt well with the ever-present threat