Two more enthralling games. Both featured goals in the final five minutes which radically shifted the game. The Dutch came from behind to win as the clock ticked down. And a 10-man Costa Rica lost their lead but just barely held on to the draw, giving themselves a chance to authoritatively smash home all five penalties and book a place in the quarterfinals.
Netherlands 2 – 1 Mexico
Heartbreaking stuff for Mexico, who held a deserved 1-0 lead until the final five minutes. They were easily the best team in the first half, where the Dutch looked bereft of ideas and quite slow. It seemed to repeat every couple minutes: Mexico would control the ball in the midfield, move it diagonally to the wings, and then send an attacker toward the goal line. And the Dutch defense was just sooo slow that they would be beaten to the ball even if they had four or five leading steps. And in this we saw the essence of why Holland is pretty unlikely to win the tournament. Their defense has held together so far, but really just can’t deal with a strong and pacey attack. They don’t have the skill to take the ball off people running at them, and they don’t have the pace to catch up to speculative balls over the top.
When Mexico scored early in the second half, the big question was whether it would waken the Dutch from their slumber. And, to a certain extent, it did. They looked livelier and more aggressive. Though, still, they didn’t seem to have much in the way of ideas. Their key game plan, pretty much the whole game, was: get the ball to Robben and hope something happens. Usually: hope that Robben can discover a foul and win a penalty.
But they were helped by getting Kuyt more involved thanks to some tactical switches. But really the key thing was simply that Mexico started retreating. They seemed happy to try and hold their lead, and took off Dos Santos who was giving the defenders fits. And this in turn let the Dutch push forward and discard their third center back. The final 30+ minutes were pretty much all one direction.
Still, Mexico held on pretty strong. And it was a bit of a surprise when things finally broke down, especially with the strike coming from Sneijder who has looked terrible and completely off the game so far. But he collected the tidy little headed pass from Huntelaar and buried it with precision and power. And suddenly the whole tenor changed. Now it was Mexico trying to survive the clock and needing to re-establish their earlier dominance. But, tragically, the same old plan of getting the ball to Robben and hoping to win a penalty finally paid off…
I’ve watched it a couple times now and I have to say, though it pains me, that it probably was a penalty. There is contact. That’s a foul anywhere else on the pitch. Robben was in a dangerous position and Marquez lunged. You don’t always see them given, but very often will. And, after all, Holland was denied a much better penalty shout at the end of the first half.
Still, it really leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, to see this comparatively ugly and unpleasant Dutch team move on, thanks to the unpleasant Robben falling over himself in the box all night and eventually getting a call. There IS a foul there, but it was a very minor one and Robben was absolutely looking for it, as he always does. It was a sour ending to an otherwise very enjoyable match.
Costa Rica 1 – 1 Greece (Costa Rica win 5-3 on penalties)
Desperately dull in the first half, but grew in excitement as things progressed. Neither team particularly wanted to attack and neither team has particularly skilled or exciting players, for the most part. But thanks to a Costa Rica goal early in the second half and a Costa Rican red card a bit later, Greece was able to exert some influence, eventually giving the game a bit more aggression.
The opening goal was truly quite baffling. I think it was a mis-hit by Ruiz, and the entire Greek defense seemed perplexed at its direction. They just stood there, mouths agape as it ever…so…slowly… inched its way across the line. I know the keeper had the entire length of the goal to cross, but it sure seemed like he could have run long way around the perimeter of the entire penalty area to get there and still had time to make the stop.
When Greece finally got their equalizer, I lamented both that Greece seemed ready to snatch victory away from another team I was rooting for, but also that I would be subjected to another 30 minutes of watching Greece play. However, they were a bit less drab in extra time, forcing a couple of very nice saves.
Then, for all the lack of skill on display out on the pitch during the game, these two teams put on a real clinic in how to take penalties. 8 of the 9 were converted – many with both power and placement – and the only one that was stopped required and excellent save.
So, the quarterfinal will be Netherlands-Costa Rica. Obviously the Dutch will be the favorites, particularly given how much work Costa Rica had to put in today. But they didn’t have an easy game either, and were playing in much more harsh conditions. So the real question is just whether Costa Rica have another huge game in them. Based on the evidence today, I would say no. This was nothing close to the quality they showed in their group stage wins. Today, they were a mediocre CONCACAF team desperately trying to hold on to the meager scraps they had gathered. And doing so against a thoroughly bleh Greece.
So the question is: which one is the real Costa Rica? A mediocre team who got lucky to play the two games of their lives in a row? Or a genuinely good team who might reasonably be expected to play that well again? My argument for the former is:
- They beat a Uruguay team playing without Suarez, who theoretically are still a very good team, but…Uruguay honestly didn’t look particularly good in any of their games, not even the ones they one with Suarez
- They beat Italy on the back of their game in Manaus. And Italy looked thoroughly wiped out
- They beat Italy by playing a dangerously high line and counting on their inability to beat the offside trap. And hey, it worked! But if they try to play that way against the Dutch, they could lose 10-0.
All that said, I’ve learned my lesson in counting this team out. The Dutch will be favorites, but it certainly wouldn’t shock me if we saw an upset here.