itsbeautifuloutside

Match Report

Costa Rica, restored to their favoured role of underdog after scraping through against Greece in the last round, almost found a way past the Netherlands and into the semi-finals of the World Cup. But eventually it was the big names of Van Persie, Robben and Schneijder who prevailed thanks to their experience of the big occasion and an act of genius from their manager, Louis Van Gaal.

As extra time wore down and the Dutch contrived to miss numerous golden opportunities to seal it without having to resort to penalty kicks, every omen was pointing towards a Costa Rica victory. Their goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, was in inspired form, as he has been throughout this World Cup. A string of fine saves from the Levante keeper will have not gone unnoticed by the scouts of the big European clubs. Los Ticos were clearly aiming for penalties and the opportunity to use their recent experience in defeating the Greeks in a similar manner. Meanwhile, the Oranje were looking increasingly desperate to avoid spot kicks thanks to their collective national fear of the penalty shoot-out, a mental aberration arguably greater than that of the English.

But when Van Persie inexplicably missed a tap-in from two yards and Navas saved from Vlaar’s header, they were passed over into the hands of their nemesis. Van Gaal, however, had a masterstroke up his sleeve. He removed their goalkeeper from the action and replaced him with Tim Krul. Regardless of whether he had shown better form with penalties in training, this was a move simply designed to tell all of his players that they were going to fight their nemesis, the penalty shoot-out, head on. They weren’t going to bow down and disappear meekly from the competition. It was a move that represented the team’s new-found fight which Van Gaal has instilled in them. It gave his men the confidence needed to overcome a World Cup penalty shoot-out. Van Gaal, in this one master-stroke, had single-handedly shifted the momentum away from Los Ticos and towards his own team.

And so those big names in orange all stepped up with confidence and Keylor Navas, who has had two babies born in Costa Rica named after him since the beginning of the World Cup, barely had a chance with any of them. The Dutch found the net with minimum fuss while Tim Krul used questionable tactics to distract the Central Americans. At a time when it should have been the Dutch questioning their own mental fortitude, it was the Costa Ricans who went behind with an early miss and were never able to find a way back into the tie thanks to the clinical nature of the Dutch penalties. The job of putting Los Ticos out of their misery was left to Umana, the experienced old pro who had scored the final penalty to secure victory against Greece. This time his penalty was palmed away by Krul and the Dutch celebrated.

Up to that point, the Dutch had once again failed to repeat the form they found in their opening victory against Spain. Playing three at the back with Kuyt and Blind as wing-backs and a three-pronged attack of Robben, Van Persie and Depay, they were largely nullified by a determined defensive performance from Costa Rica. The first 70 minutes were turgid but then the game became fascinating for the last 20 minutes of normal time. In extra-time, as the Dutch grew increasingly desperate to avoid penalties, things became breathless. Chances came and went for the Dutch, while Costa Rica also had excellent opportunities on the break to win the game. But luck conspired to keep Los Ticos in the game and before the final whistle went, Van Gaal plotted his masterstroke by throwing on Tim Krul with seconds remaining. In so doing, he delivered to his country a place in the second of two South America vs Europe semi-finals.

Batts