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It is Costa Rica who will meet the Netherlands in Salvador on Sunday morning following a victory against Greece, 5-3 on pentalties.
In the end it was Michael Umana who scored the winning penalty, but what a game for goalkeeper Keylor Navas. His night was punctuated by a superb spot save from Gekas.
Greece distraught, and they exit this World Cup. They will rue not making their man advantage pay in extra time, following Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ equaliser in normal time.
FINAL SCORE:
Costa Rica 1
Greece 1
Costa Rica win the penalty shootout 5-3
It’s the knockout tie few would have bargained for pre-tournament, but in the battle of World Cup underdogs, Costa Rica and Greece will both aim to create their own slice of history at Recife. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 6:00am AEST.
On paper, this is the easiest of all the Round of 16 games. However plausible it was for the sturdy Greeks to escape Group C, very few would have dare imagined Costa Rica bettering the likes of Uruguay, Italy and England (all now having exited the World Cup) to top Group D and earn this position. But it is Los Ticos who will start as favourites in a battle where both teams aim to reach echelons of the World Cup they have yet to reach.
By progressing, Costa Rica have already matched their Round of 16 participation in 1990. To have done so by overcoming Uruguay and Italy, and stalemating England in a dead rubber speaks highly not only of a unified approach, but how underestimated Costa Rica’s players have been this tournament. Captain Bryan Ruiz is the obvious linchpin, having scored the crucial goal to beat the Italians.
But rising star Joel Campbell has proven another useful outlet, proving that Costa Rica have a sufficient goal threat to match their solid defence. Having only conceded once, that being from the penalty spot, in their three games, the central pairing of Oscar Duarte and Michael Umana will fancy their chances of keeping another clean sheet against Greece.
Giorgos Karagounis and Kostas Katsouranis will enter Monday’s game hoping to emulate any déjà vu they may have about the occasion. It is hard to believe Greece’s greatest footballing moment at Euro 2004 is now nearly a decade old. As the lone two who continue to this day, both Karagounis and Katsouranis will be aware this tie represents their easiest challenge to not only make the quarter-finals, but also build another title tilt that can again captivate the football world.
Having only progressed on the back of Giorgos Samaras’ controversial penalty against Cote d’Ivoire, Greece will be relying on their traditional stubbornness and their young centre back pairing of Manolas and Papastathopoulos to propel their hopes towards the next round. Coach Fernando Santos can count on a team that has the sheer bloody mindedness to play the full 90 minutes and beyond, which is a highly-valued attribute at the pressure end of the tournament.
In what is the hardest game to pick in the Round of 16, Costa Rica deserve favouritism on the back of their giant killing ways in Group D. However, never can Greece imagine such a golden opportunity to emulate glory from 10 years back.
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