The quality and drama of the Netherlands' comeback against Mexico was surely going to be hard to match, but after a rather flat first half, Costa Rica and Greece did their best to maintain the incredible momentum and excitement of this tournament. The match gave us a flurry of cards, a man sent off, a missed call that could have resulted in a penalty shot, another stoppage-time goal and our second game of the round decided by penalties.
In the end, a Costa Rican team that no one expected to be here overcame playing the final 25 minutes of regular time and all of extra time down a man - not to mention the shock of losing a 1-0 lead only moments from victory - to keep their Cinderella run going into the quarters.
The agony of defeat - Greek players are stunned by the results of the shootout. (Photo: @fifworldcup | Facebook)
While not necessarily as spectacular as Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa has been, Costa Rican keeper Keylor Navas was undoubtably the man of the match and has clearly been living the Pura Vida to produce this result. He fended off chance after chance as his team played a man down in the second half and throughout extra time. And that was before finally making the one-and-only save of the penalty kick round, reaching back with his left hand as he dove right and just managing to tip Fanis Gekas' attempt over the bar. This dramatic save came after the prior 7 kickers had blasted the ball into the back of the net without a hint of nerves or exhaustion. And, when Costa Rican midfielder Celso Borges completed a perfect 5-for-5 set of kicks for Costa Rica, the celebration in San Jose was set off.
Costa Rican-hero Navas' game-winning save was a thing of beauty. (Photo: @fifaworldcup | Facebook)
There was little reason to expect this result given the run of play for the last 50 minutes. In 66th minute Oscar Duarte picked up his second yellow card and was sent off, forcing his mates to try and hold on for dear life against a re-energized Greek squad. The challenge ahead of Costa Rica was apparent only moments later as the ensuing free kick resulted in a strong scoring opportunity, missed by a poorly-directed header. The rest of the second half saw Greece dominate possession and earn numerous scoring opportunities, mostly in the air, but the Costa Rican defense - and Navas in particular - weathered the storm and this unexpected group winner seemed destined to play in the quarterfinals for the first time in history.
But only ten seconds into stoppage time (before the amount of stoppage time had even been announced, in fact) the Costa Rican defense finally cracked. A chipped ball into the Costa Rican box bounced around before Greek forward Fanis Gekas made a quick turn and snapped a shot on the goal. Costa Rican keeper Navas was unable to control the rebound and Greek defender Sokrastis Papastathopoulos stayed on top of the bouncing ball, pounding it into the ground and sending a bounding ball over a sprawling Navas and into the back of the net. Surely the the Greek Isles moved a few inches during the ensuing jubilation.
Greece kept the pressure on and Navas was severly tested a few more times before the end of regular time was called, including a leaping save of a header that could have easily left the Costa Ricans feeling the pain of Mexico (giving up two goals to lose in the final moments of the game), and that did leave the keeper feeling the pain of a fall on his shoulder. But Navas soldiered (shouldered?) on while the Greeks dominated the run of play in extra time as well. Scoring chances included a 5-on-2 that never fully developed and a point-blank attempt that required a sprawling deflection off Navas' hip in waning moments during the second 15. But, in the end, the Costa Rican keeper managed to hold the Greeks off to force penalties.
Coming out of the halftime break at Recife, Costa Rica seemed to be on their heels during the early play. However, Costa Rica took their first real opportunity of the second half and turned it into a lead they would hold until the waning moments of regular time. A quick counter attack seemed to catch the Greeks by surprise given how much they had controlled the pace up to that point. A run down the left hand side opened up a surprising amount of space against the Greek defense, allowing a cross to Costa Rican star Brian Ruiz to stay along the ground at an easy-to-handle pace, while still giving him plenty of room to shoot. The one-timed side foot shot was more like a perfectly aimed pass into the side net than a decisive strike, but the entire Greek defense and their keeper were flatfooted as they turned and watched the Costa Rican's take a 1-0 lead.
The goal created a significant shift in momentum for the next 10 minutes as the Costa Ricans were energized and the Greeks stunned by the turn of events. Less than a minute later Greece benefitted from a missed penalty shot that kept them in the game. A long cross into the Greek box had a good chance of meeting the feet of a streaking Costa Rican player when it was deflected by the hand of a Greek defender, not his head, as judged by the referee. Lucky to avoid a penalty shot, Greece's defense continued to give up scoring chances for the next several minutes. Unfortunately, once down to 10 men, Costa Rica played the balance of the game in a defensive stance and very nearly met the fate of most other teams that have chosen to pack it in in the back and wait it out (I'm looking at you USMNT).
But in the end, penalties care little about momentum and the flow of play - a rather cruel way to decide things. The exhausted Costa Rican team stepped up and nailed their kicks, erasing any memories of the last 50 minutes of play, and will now look for Mr. Navas to continue his magic against what will surely be a heavily-favored Netherlands in the quarters. Sometimes, it appears, Cinderella slips on goalie gloves.
