Old World vs. New World, Europe vs. North America. Collectively, CONCACAF are having one of their best World Cups, UEFA one of their worst. Netherlands, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Greece took the stage as more fireworks flew in the knockout stage.
Round of 16: 1B Netherlands vs. 2A Mexico
Result: 2-1 win for Netherlands
Goalscorers: 48' Giovani dos Santos (Villarreal), 88' Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray), 90+4' Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke)
Bookings: 69' Paul Aguilar (America), 90+2' Rafael Marquez (Leon), 90+3' Andres Guardado (Bayer Leverkusen)
Significance of bookings: If Mexico made it to the quarterfinals, Marquez and Aguilar would've been suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
Lineups
Netherlands (4-3-1-2)
Jasper Cillessen (Ajax); Paul Verhaegh (Augsburg), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Stephan de Vrij (Feyenoord), Daley Blind (Ajax); Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce), Nigel de Jong (AC Milan), Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV); Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray); Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), Robin van Persie (Manchester United, captain)
Changes from last match
Daryl Janmaat and Jeremain Lens left on the bench, replaced by Verhaegh and van Persie (who was suspended for the Chile game due to multiple yellow cards).
Subs:
Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord) 9' for Nigel de Jong
Memphis Depay (PSV) 56' for Paul Verhaegh
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke) 76' for Robin van Persie
Mexico (5-3-2)
Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio); Paul Aguilar (America), Francisco Rodriguez (America), Rafael Marquez (Leon, captain), Hector Moreno (Espanyol), Miguel Layun (America); Hector Herrera (Porto), Carlos Salcido (UANL), Andres Guardado (Bayer Leverkusen); Giovani dos Santos (Villarreal), Oribe Peralta (Santos Laguna)
Changes from last match
Jose Vazquez was replaced by Salcido in the starting lineup since Vazquez was suspended for yellow card accumulation
Subs:
Diego Reyes (Porto) 46' for Hector Moreno
Javier Aquino (Villarreal) 61' for Giovani dos Santos
Javier Hernandez (Manchester United) 75' for Oribe Peralta
Both of these teams came out of their groups relatively unscathed. Despite having to deal with the likes of Brazil and Spain, Mexico and Netherlands were undefeated in the group stage and deservedly made their way to the Round of 16. Although Netherlands have had less difficulty scoring goals than Mexico, this seemed like a pretty even match up and fans and players of both nations felt they had a decent shot in this game. It was a tale of two halves really. Mexico seemed like the better team in the first half, and then got their goal early on but after that it was almost like they forgot that a 1-0 lead...40 minutes before the end of the game....in a world cup knockout game....against the NETHERLANDS....IS NOT A SAFE LEAD! They were playing with fire, they dropped deep and allowed Netherlands to get more possession of the ball, more corner kicks, and more opportunities. And when you play with fire, you get burned. Wesley Sneijder found his opportunity and buried it past Guillermo Ochoa. Seemed fair, it was a good match, both teams have played well and balanced each other out, we'll see what extra time brings? OR Arjen Robben could dive and settle things 2 minutes before the final whistle by drawing a penalty. Some arguments that it weren't a dive and it was a legitimate call seemed feasible but from my perspective and knowing what Arjen Robben is capable of and how frustrated he was not having made as much of an impact in this game as he had in previous games for the Netherlands in this tournament, I considered it a dive. But regardless, Wesley Sneijder's goal was legitimate and maybe Mexico just lost their concentration for a split second and that's exactly enough time for the story to be rewritten. At the very least without that penalty it would be extra time and maybe still Netherlands had that win coming. Regardless, Netherlands progress to the quarterfinals for the 2nd World Cup running and even though they needed a late surge to get the result they needed, they still look like legitimate contenders to win it all, something they haven't done yet. They're called the greatest team to never win a World Cup for a reason, and now only three games remain for them to discard that title.
Elimination Analysis: Mexico
Mexico will have every reason to be frustrated. 6th World Cup in a row losing at the final 16...that stuff has to be getting old and annoying. 4th time losing in the knockout stage after scoring 1st (1970 vs. Italy, 1998 vs. Germany, 2006 vs. Argentina, and now this time) is brutal. And flop or not, being eliminated by a penalty kick minutes before the end of regulation is a heart breaker. But let's rewind back to the hexagonal. Mexico were falling apart. Drawing at home to Jamaica and USA. Blowing a 2-goal lead away against Honduras to tie 2-2, followed by some tough defeats like the latest "Dos a cero" loss to the USA in Columbus and the "Aztecazo" 2-1 loss to Honduras. Graham Zusi's equalizer against Panama in the final match day gave Mexico the opportunity to face New Zealand for their World Cup spot. It looked like Mexico were gonna limp past the unimpressive Kiwis into the World Cup. But after thrashing New Zealand 9-3 on aggregate Mexico under Miguel Herrera start to regain the form they were in prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics and they were back in business. They played 3 great games in Group A, defeating Cameroon and Croatia and tying to Brazil, but just couldn't keep things going this time. They were very close to their first ever quarterfinal appearance outside of Mexico, and hopefully they continue to work hard and next time it will be their time to do better than top 16, and from there, who knows?
Round of 16: 1D Costa Rica vs. 2C Greece
Result: 1-1 but Costa Rica emerged victorious in the penalty shootout
Goalscorers: 52' Bryan Ruiz (PSV), 90+1' Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund)
Penalty Shootout
Costa Rica 1: Celso Borges (AIK) successful
Greece 1: Kostas Mitroglou (Fulham) successful
1-1
Costa Rica 2: Bryan Ruiz (PSV) successful
Greece 2: Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Bologna) successful
2-2
Costa Rica 3: Giancarlo Gonzalez (Columbus Crew) successful
Greece 3: Jose Holebas (Olympiacos) successful
3-3
Costa Rica 4: Joel Campbell (Olympiacos) successful
Greece 4: Theofanis Gekas (Konyaspor) unsuccessful
4-3 Costa Rica
Costa Rica 5: Michael Umana (Saprissa) successful
Costa Rica advance upon winning the shootout 5-3
Bookings: 36' Andreas Samaris (Olympiacos), 48' Yeltsin Tejeda (Saprissa), 57' Oscar Granados* (Herediano), 42', 66' two yellow cards Oscar Duarte (Club Brugge), 70' Bryan Ruiz (PSV), Kostas Manolas (Olympiacos), 90' Keylor Navas (Levante), 120' Fernando Santos, Greece's coach, sent off
*=Oscar Granados became the 3rd player to receive a yellow card from the bench after confronting the ref.
Significance of bookings: Duarte, for receiving a red card (two yellows), will be suspended for Costa Rica's quarterfinal match against the Netherlands. If Greece progressed, Fernando Santos would've missed the next match as well.
Lineups
Costa Rica (5-2-2-1)
Keylor Navas (Levante); Cristian Gamboa (Rosenborg), Oscar Duarte (Club Brugge), Giancarlo Gonzalez (Columbus Crew), Michael Umana (Saprissa), Junior Diaz (Mainz 05); Celso Borges (AIK), Yeltsin Tejeda (Saprissa); Bryan Ruiz (PSV, captain), Christian Bolanos (Copenhagen); Joel Campbell (Olympiacos)
Changes from last match
Change from 5-3-2 to 5-2-2-1 formation. Randall Brenes and Roy Miller dropped from starting lineup, replaced by Bolanos and Umana respectively.
Subs:
Jose Cubero (Herediano) 66' for Yeltsin Tejeda
Johnny Acosta (Alajuelense) 77' for Cristian Gamboa
Randall Brenes (Cartagines) 83' for Christian Bolanos
Greece (4-5-1)
Orestis Karnezis (Granada); Vasilis Torosidis (Roma), Kostas Manolas (Olympiacos), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund), Jose Holebas (Olympiacos); Giorgos Karagounis (Fulham, captain), Giannis Maniatis (Olympiacos), Andreas Samaris (Olympiacos), Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Bologna); Georgios Samaras (Celtic)
Changes from last match
Panagiotis Kone (wasn't 100%) left on the bench, allowing Samaris to start.
Subs:
Kostas Mitroglou (Fulham) 58' for Andreas Samaris
Theofanis Gekas (Konyaspor) 69' for Dimitris Salpingidis
Kostas Katsouranis (PAOK) 78' for Giannis Maniatis
Neither team was expected to get this far, and the fact that one of them were going to the quarterfinals to face the Netherlands. Both have had interesting paths to get this far. Suddenly Costa Rica became the biggest predator in the Group D shark tank, while Greece had to dig deep against Japan and get a little lucky against Cote D'Ivoire to get here. However, this was probably the worst of the knockout matches so far. A lot of sloppy or boring play between both teams until Bryan Ruiz scored a goal to open things up. It wasn't the fastest shot and Orestis Karnezis didn't even go for it, but a goal is a goal. Costa Rica though they were in control but then Oscar Duarte received his 2nd yellow and Costa Rica were reduced to 10 men for what they thought would be 25 minutes or so but eventually became 55 thanks to Sokratis Papastathopoulos's equalizer in the dying minutes of the game. In extra time, Costa Rica, especially Joel Campbell, appeared to be running on near empty, possibly because they played at a higher tempo for longer than Greece or the numbers disadvantage was taking its toll. As always for Greece, slow and steady wins the race. If it wasn't for Keylor Navas having a fantastic game, Greece would've been the word and the Greeks would've won before a penalty shootout was necessary. But alas it was, and Theofanis Gekas was the unlucky person to blow it as Costa Rica moved on to the quarterfinals for the first time ever for them, and Greece were knocked out, probably not soon enough for the millions of neutrals who criticize their defensive approach to playing soccer. Mexico (1970 and 1986), USA (2002), and, I kid you not, Cuba (1938, their only World Cup appearance) are the only other CONCACAF teams to get this far.
Elimination Analysis: Greece
Greece made their World Cup debut in 1994 but were seen as the sand bags of their group which contained Argentina, Bulgaria, and Nigeria. And then incredibly they managed to win the 2004 UEFA Euro tournament (Giorgos Karagounis and Kostas Katsouranis were a part of that Greek squad), which remains one of the biggest shocks in football/soccer in the 21st century. That tournament, since then, has given Greece the belief that on their day they can stand up to any opponent. Well they haven't been winning any trophies since then but at least they managed to qualify for every major tournament available to them since then, excluding the 2006 World Cup. This tournament will definitely be a success for Greece even though they didn't replicate their 2004 feat (which would've been asking for a whole lot). They made it to the top 16 for the first time at a World Cup, they got out of a group that not too many people predicted them getting out of since Colombia and Cote D'Ivoire/Japan were considered the more likely scenario. Some of Greece's biggest names like Karagounis (37), Salpingidis (32), Katsouranis (34), and Gekas (34) are likely playing on borrowed time for this national team, which means the younger players like Kostas Mitroglou, Andreas Samaris, and Sokratis Papastathopoulos will need to continue to step up and grow stronger to keep Greece as one of the better teams in Europe, though not quite a giant. It would be nice if they could emphasize more attacking play, but every nation has their own style and whichever way gets you results, that's what counts.
Up next
1E France vs. 2F Nigeria
1G Germany vs. 2H Algeria
Europe's battles shift from North American opponents to African ones. France and Germany are undoubtedly favorites in these matchups but can Nigeria or Algeria pull off an upset?
France have been in good form this whole tournament, they have a deep squad, they've scored eight goals in three games, and they're looking to make a deep run in this tournament. Nigeria's coach Stephen Keshi continues to show his faith in his side, whom he once said have the potential to be the first African team to reach the semifinal. It'll take much more than Vincent Enyeama's impressive goal keeping to keep that dream alive though.
Germany look like a powerful team as well. A lot of people foresee this side winning the World Cup even when knowing a European team has only once one a World Cup outside of Europe, and that was Spain 4 years ago in South Africa. For Algeria though, this matchup brings back both great and horrible memories of the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Algeria beat Germany 2-1, an incredible shock at the time and the first time an African nation had beaten a European nation at the World Cup. However, in the final group game, Germany and Austria notoriously played to a 1-0 Germany win (allegedly a case of match fixing), knowing that's what they needed for both teams to advance and eliminate Algeria. 32 years later, Algeria still has kept note of that match and even though they are heavy underdogs in this match, a win against Germany would be as sweet as winning the World Cup.
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