World Cup: "Scapegoat" Costa-Rica emerges unstoppable, Dutch final blow dismantles Mexico - PHOTOS

Cinderella's glass slipper has never fit better. A heroic effort from ten-man Costa Rica was enough to send the Ticos through to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time ever as they outlasted Greece in penalties on Sunday evening at the Arena Pernambuco in Recife.

Keylor Navas was the hero by providing the decisive stop in the spot kicks by saving a Theofanis Gekas effort, while Costa Rica converted all five of theirs, including Michael Umaña's match-clinching shot.

The late drama followed a second half stoppage time goal from Sokratis Papastathopoulos which canceled out an earlier strike from Costa Rica's Bryan Ruíz.

Costa Rica's astounding accomplishment sets up a quarterfinal clash with the Netherlands who dispatched Costa Rican regional rivals Mexico earlier on Sunday.

The Ticos went with Keylor Navas in goal, a five-man defense of Cristian Gamboa, Óscar Duarte, Giancarlo González, Michael Umaña and Júnior Díaz in defense. A four-man midfield consisting of Celso Borges, Yeltsin Tejeda, Bryan Ruíz and Cristian Bolaños and the lethal Joel Campbell up top as the lone striker.

For Greece, it was a 4-2-3-1 formation with Orestis Karnezis in goal, Vasilis Torosidis, Kostas Manolas, Papastathopoulos and José Holebas in defense, Georgios Karagounis and Giannis Maniatis as defensive midfielders, while Lazaros, Dimitris Salpingidis and Andreas Samaris formed the attacking midfield in support of striker Giorgios Samaras.

The first half hour saw the teams trade chances with Costa Rica having the upper hand on coming closest to goal. However, it was Greece who enjoyed the best occasion of the first half as Holebas curled in a perfect cross for Salpingidis at the far post but the shot drew a reaction leg save from Navas to keep things goalless which is how it stayed going into halftime.

But the Ticos would not stay down for long and their hero against Italy, Ruíz, once again donned his cape to open the scoring against the Greeks in the 52nd minute. The PSV Eindhoven man was left inexplicably unmarked at the top of the area, and after collecting a ball, Ruíz simply swept a shot in past Karnezis to put Costa Rica ahead, 1-0. Minutes later Costa Rica had a shout for a penalty when a Bolaños shot struck the hand of Torosidis but nothing was called.

Greece got a huge break as a reckless foul from Duarte on Holebas in the 66th minute resulted in a second yellow for the Nicaraguan-born defender who left the pitch nearly in tears after putting his team in such an inauspicious position, having to play with ten men for the remainder of the contest.

It was a barrage from the Greeks the rest of the way as Samaras led the charge for the equalizer. Yet right when it looked as if Costa Rica hang on for the win, the Greeks, just like they had done in their group stage finale versus the Ivory Coast, produced some late drama and leveled the match through Papastathopoulos who hammered in a ball after Navas had originally blocked a shot.

And in an almost carbon copy of the Netherlands' win over Mexico, Greece nearly tallied a second late goal but substitute Kostas Mitroglou's header was barely tipped away by Navas in the third minute of stoppage time, thus sending the match to extra time.

With a fresh 30 minutes and a man advantage, it was all Greece in extra time, but nevertheless, they were unable to convert a slew of chances, including a 113rd minute five-on-two that saw Navas come up with a massive save on a Lazaros shot and then a last minute block of a Mitroglou shot.

The Ticos' hard work earned them a shot at victory in penalties and they were perfect from the spot going five-for-five. The Greeks converted their first three kicks but a Navas save on Theofanis Gekas' effort paved the way for Umaña's winner and now the country who many suspected would finish last in the 'group of champions' are just two wins away from a World Cup final.

Netherlands 2-1 Mexico

The Netherlands moved on to the World Cup quarterfinals with a comeback 2-1 win over Mexico on Sunday afternoon at the Estadio Castelão in Fortaleza.

A late goal from Wesley Sneijder and a penalty conversion from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar outweighed a 48th minute Giovani dos Santos strike to set the 2010-runners-up with a quarterfinal clash versus either Costa Rica or Greece.

Mexico head coach Miguel Herrera made only one change to his starting XI as Carlos Salcido subbed in for the suspended José Juan Vazquez in the three-man midfield. Otherwise, it was the usual cast of characters with Guillermo Ochoa in goal, Paul Aguilar and Miguel Layún as wingbacks and Rafa Márquez, Hector Moreno and Francisco Rodríguez as the center backs. Salcido joined midfielders Hector Herrera and Andres Guardado while Oribe Peralta and Dos Santos started up front as forwards.

For Holland, head coach Louis van Gaal rolled out a 3-4-1-2 formation that saw Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben up top at striker. Sneijder assumed his duties as the No.10 in the attacking midfield while Dirk Kuyt, Nigel De Jong, Georginio Wijnaldum and Paul Verhaegh formed the central midfield. In defense it was a three-man alignment of Daley Blind, Ron Vlaar and Stefan de Vrij in front of goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.

The Dutch suffered the first setback of the match as Van Gaal had to go to his bench inside the first ten minutes when an apparent muscle injury forced De Jong to leave and he was replaced by Bruno Martins.

Mexico controlled the temp in the first half with only a 27th minute Van Persie chance being the primary threat to Ochoa’s goal. Otherwise, the play of Herrera and Peralta stood out for the CONCACAF nation would looked the brighter of the two sides.

Yet the Netherlands nearly gifted a late first half goal by the Mexican defense when a poor touch from Marquez led to a quick break only to see Robben’s chance snuffed out by Moreno. Replays showed that a penalty could have been whistled against the Espanyol man, but there was no call from the referee and the score remained in a goalless deadlock at the halftime whistle.

The second half was barely a few minutes old when a bit of brilliance from Dos Santos opened the scoring as the Villarreal man did well to hold off Bling and fired a left-footed rocket that went searing past Cillessen.

Ochoa was then called into action and answered with two massive stops, one off his face that then struck the post and deflected out and then another after substitute Diego Reyes’ giveaway led to a Robben chance. But there was nothing Ochoa could do on a Sneijder shot in the 87th minute as the Galatasaray man leveled the match 1-1 when a corner kick fell to his feet and Sneijder powered a ball home.

The Netherlands were not going to play for extra time and went for the winner and would earn it in stoppage time when Robben was brought down by Márquez in the area and substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar converted the spot kick to send the Netherlands to the quarterfinals and break the hearts of Mexican everywhere.

/Goal.Com/