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The quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil had three European heavyweights Germany, France and Netherlands, three teams from South America Brazil, Argentina and Colombia and two underdogs Costa Rica and Belgium. Coincidentally these were the same teams who topped their respective groups.The matches were closely fought and it is safe to say that four of the best teams have advanced to the semi-finals setting up two cross-continental clashes between Europe and South America.There were moments of magic and despair during the quarter finals and fans were treated to an exhilarating and sumptuous football in all the four matches; however here are some defining moments that will be etched in our memories.
#5 Costa Ricas dream run comes to an end
Not many expected Costa Rica to progress beyond the group stage as they were up against three former World Cup winners – Italy, Uruguay and England. This was just their fourth appearance in the World Cup finals and their best result till date was reaching the round of 16 in the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy.
The temperamental Jorge Luis Pinto, manager of the Costa Rican Football team, has to be credited for the team’s exceptional performance during the World Cup. The Ticos didn’t just survive the so called group of death, but they topped the group without losing a match.
Jorge Luis’s 5-4-1 formation worked wonders for the team as they conceded just two goals in their World Cup campaign. The brilliantly organized defence was too much even for a team in spectacular goal-scoring form like the Netherlands, who found themselves banging their heads trying to crack the five-man stone wall of a Costa Rican defence.
Ultimately, Netherlands had to resort to a penalty shootout to end the Costa Rican dream run at the World Cup winning 5-3. Nonetheless, the Costa Ricans will leave Brazil with their heads held high, showing the world that you don’t need big names to win big games, but it’s the collective effort and team work that triumphs in the beautiful game.
#4 Louis Van Gaals secret trump card - Tim Krul
They call him a brilliant tactician, but in the end it took a seemingly sly move from the Dutchman to win the penalty shootout against Costa Rica.
The Costa Rican manager Jorge Luis is well known for his heavy preparation by watching hours and hours of video footage of his opponents, before arriving at a game-plan. Once again the team executed his plan to perfection by denying the Dutch any goals in the 120 minutes of play, and going by their win against Greece in the penalties, and Netherlands lackadaisical penalty play-off history, it was advantage Jorge Luis.
Enter Tim Krul in the final minute of extra time which might have come as a minor shock for Jorge Luis and his team, as they might have studied Jasper Cillessen more, and to add insult to injury, Krul resorted to cheap tricks by taunting the players before they took their spot kicks, and stunningly he dived in the right direction on all five occasions. The Costa Ricans had fallen into a trap and Krul finished them off in clinical fashion.
We’ve come across super subs scoring goals and some breathtaking saves from goal-keepers during the world cup, but Van Gaal took it to the next level by introducing a goal-keeper as a super substitute, in what has been the shrewdest move during the World Cup.
#3 Manuel Neuer - The magician with the magic hand
As the World Cup has progressed, goals have become a rarity due to teams of equal strength facing each other and goalkeepers displaying their brilliant shot-stopping abilities. Goalkeepers have had their share of lime-light during the World Cup from Guillermo Ochoa to Tim Howard.
But one man who seems to step up the gears at the right moment and appear ice-cool is undoubtedly the German goal-keeper Manuel Neuer who goes by the nickname ‘Ice cube’.
Neuer was simply unbeatable against France and it looked as if there was a bus parked on the goal line with shots simply rebounding off. The save of the match came at the 34th minute with France trailing 1-0, Mathieu Valbuena shot a ball from the left side of the box which was on target, if not for Neuer’s super quick reflex, the score would have been 1-1.
Neuer’s confidence grew as the match progressed and the save he made in the dying minutes of the match was that of a goal-keeper in scintillating form and supreme confidence; Karim Benzema pulled the trigger and let a vicious shot fly towards the top of the net from an almost point blank range, but his shot was coolly palmed away by Neuer and the look on Benzema’s face was a mix of despair and adulation.
#2 David Luizs knuckle ball free kick
When the defence is impregnable and the goal-keeper is rock-solid, usually you need a freak goal to score or something really special. The special moment came when David Luiz took the free kick against Colombia.
In the 67th minute with Brazil leading 1-0, Hulk was brought down by the Colombian playmaker James Rogriguez in a seemingly light tackle, but the referee thought otherwise and handed a yellow card to the Colombian and a free kick to Brazil in the centre of the field, just over 30 yards from goal.
The Brazilian center-back, David Luiz set himself up to take the free kick, and delivered a fierce shot which drifted past the Colombian wall and swerved into the right top corner leaving Ospina no chance to stop the ball from ending in the back of the net, giving Brazil a 2-0 cushion.
The free kick would have brought back memories of free kicks taken by the former Brazilian and dead-ball specialist, Juninho Pernambucano to the Brazilian fans.
#1 James Rodriguez receives a standing ovation from the fans
The top scorer of the FIFA 2014 World Cup with 6 goals, 2 assists and three Man of the Match awards, James Rodriguez has been phenomenal for the Colombians. The way Brazil targeted him in the match to make sure he didn’t get any space or time to create play showed their wariness towards the talismanic play maker.
He gave his everything in the match and it was tragic to see him teary-eyed after the final whistle as his goal from a penalty kick, the only goal for the Colombians, was not enough to stop the Brazilians from advancing to the semi-finals.
The young 22-year old Colombian was consoled by David Luiz and other Brazilian superstars and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Later James Rodriquez was quoted saying: "I'm crying because we gave everything we had inside of us,"
"We have not progressed to the semi-finals. The referee did not always whistle in the right direction and did not penalise many of Brazil's misdemeanors but we go out with our heads held high.
"Men can also cry but I can return to my country happy. A great team has been born."
