This World Cup just gets better and better as the Dutch and Costa Rica progress to the Quarter Finals…
Holland and Mexico played out a cracking game under the blistering heat at Fortaleza last night with the Dutch hitting two late goals to win 2-1 and break Mexican hearts.
We know Irish people love any excuse to talk about the weather but it was absolutely sweltering on that pitch yesterday, we thought Dirk Kuyt in particular was going to combust.
Dutch airline KLM rubbed some salt in the wound with a cheeky tweet while the Mexican manager Miguel Herrera was so upset after the game that he decided to give Robin Van Persie a bit of a shove.
The story of the World Cup has to be Costa Rica. The minnows were given absolutely no chance at the start of the tournament but now they are into the last eight thanks to their penalty shootout win over Greece last night.
The game itself was pretty entertaining as Bryan Ruiz scored his second goal of the tournament to open the scoring and the easy-to-prounounce Sokratis Papastathopoulos equalised for the Greeks in injury time. The extra-time was a bit of a slug-fest as both teams were out on their feet so neither side could find a winner.
People often criticise players for missing penalties but Costa Rica ‘keeper Keylor Navas’s stop from Theofanis Gekas was top drawer…
Here’s the penalty that put Costa Rica through, the magic of the cup eh…
We’re still wallowing in self-pity since JOEpan’s exit from the competition last week. They put in a valiant effort but ultimately failed as they managed to pick up just one point from their three games and finished bottom of Group C.
We’re not turning our backs on them though, no way, and the dawning of a new era is on the horizon as JOEpan have appointed a new leader. Javier Aguirre, who is a former Mexico, Atletico Madrid and Espanyol coach, has been name as JOEpan’s new gaffer for the next four years.
The road to Russia 2018 starts here.
