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The Netherlands have advanced to the semi-final of the World Cup after a scoreless draw against Costa Rica went to a penalty shootout.
The underdog did all they could to give themselves hope of advancement, but in the end Costa Rica’s dream World Cup run was cut short, 4-3 on penalties.
FINAL SCORE:
Netherlands 0
Costa Rica 0
Netherlands won 4-3 on penalties.
The customary battle of David and Goliath comes in the form of the Netherlands and Costa Rica, who will face each other at Salvador for a spot in the World Cup semi-finals. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 6:00am AEST.
Neither the Netherlands nor Costa Rica considered this scenario as remotely plausible.
The Dutch have always had designs on the World Cup title, having failed at the final hurdle three times, but Oranje would never have thought it would be Costa Rica in their way at the quarter-final stage.
As for Los Ticos, if escaping a group with three former champions in Uruguay, Italy and England was one thing, surviving for 60 minutes with 10 men to defeat Greece via penalty shootout was another.
The Netherlands will start undoubted favourites, boasting the form attacking force in the tournament. The performances of Robin Van Persie against Spain, Arjen Robben against Australia, and then finally Wesley Sneijder’s solo rescue act against Mexico exemplify the weight of challenge Costa Rica’s defenders are likely to confront. With 12 goals in four games, the Dutch faithful can be confident of a team willing to play aggressive football.
However, the weakness lies in Oranje‘s superiority masking potential frailties in their other areas of their team. With both Australia and Mexico causing sufficient scares to the Dutch on their way to the quarter finals, coach Louis van Gaal may be tempted to temper the attacking mindset to focus more on the quintessential Dutch trait of total football – keeping the ball and interchangeable passing to eventually wear down their opponent.
Having already achieved their greatest ever result in a World Cup, Costa Rica can approach this game with gay abandon at what else they may achieve. While an element of luck can be always be factored in during penalty shootouts, Los Ticos‘ ability to keep out a ravenous swathe of Greek attacks in their round of 16 clash exemplifies the unity surrounding this team.
Given the Dutch attacking threat, Pinto may opt to focus on keeping spaces compact between the midfield and defence, with a high pressing line to rob Netherlands of possession. From there, the counterattacking abilities of Bryan Ruiz and Joel Campbell will be Los Ticos‘ main outlets to effectwhat would be the Central Americans’ greatest achievement so far.
The Netherlands can rightly be considered favourites, but as Uruguay, Italy and England can attest, that counts for nothing against Costa Rica.
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