Netherlands through to Semi-Finals, Beat Costa Rica 4-3 On Penalties
Opeyemi Oladunjoye
The Netherlands beat Costa Rica 4-3 in a penalty shootout after 120 goalless minutes to reach the World Cup semi-finals and face Argentina in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.
Goalkeeper, Tim Krul – brought on by Louis van Gaal for the spot-kicks finale – was the hero of the match after saving penalty shots from Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana to put the Dutch through.
Van Gaal also made some changes to the Dutch side that began the 2-1 round-of-16 win over Mexico. With Nigel de Jong ruled out of the rest of the tournament having sustained a groin injury last Sunday, Wesley Sneijder took up a more central role as Daley Blind played wide on the left and Bruno Martins Indi returned to the rearguard. Paul Verhaegh dropped to the bench to allow Dirk Kuyt to switch to the right flank and Memphis Depay to come in as a left-sided forward.
Costa Rica were without centre-back, Oscar Duarte after his red card against Greece last weekend, with Johnny Acosta replacing him in Jorge Luis Pinto’s only change.
The Netherlands had the best of the first-half chances, but Ticos goalkeeper, Keylor Navas impressively saved efforts from Robin van Persie, Sneijder and Depay. After the break, the Central Americans continued to frustrate the Dutch.
Celso Borges and Van Persie both coolly slid home the first two spot-kicks, but Krul dived to his left to deny Ruiz which allowed Robben to give the Dutch the advantage. Giancarlo Gonzalez and Sneijder hit the target, with Christian Bolanos and Kuyt following suit.
Umana – who scored the crucial penalty against Greece in the last round – was however denied by a Krul save, thus sending the Netherlands through.
