Costa Rica beat Greece on penalties to reach quarter-finals
Costa Rica made history by reaching their first World Cup
quarter-final at Greece’s expense, though it was the way they did it
that will live long in the memory, surviving half an hour of extra-time
with only 10 men before going on to prosper in the penalty shoot out.
When Sokratis Papastathopoulos equalised in the 91st minute it appeared Costa Rica were going to suffer the same fate as their Concacaf neighbours ,Mexico. Greece’s late goal took the game into extra time, but already down to 10 men after losing Oscar Duarte to a second yellow card midway through the second half, there seemed no way Costa Rica could survive for another half-hour.
Yet somehow they did, even managing a few enterprising moments of their own through José Cubero and Randall Brenes, although the Greeks were scandalously wasteful of some huge overlaps and promising positions in the second period of extra time, and Kostas Mitroglou saw a shot saved right at the death when he appeared more likely to score. Thus reprieved, Costa Rica completed a perfect set of penalties, scoring all five, with Michael Umaña hitting the winning shot as a result of Theo Gekas seeing his effort, Greece’s fourth, saved by Keylor Navas. The goalkeeper, without whom Costa Rica might not have seen extra time let alone penalties, dived to his right but beat away Gekas’s shot with his left hand.
While not quite as draining as the conditions in Fortaleza for Holland v Mexico, which kicked off four hours earlier in the heat of the afternoon, it was still a sultry evening at the Pernambuco Arena though Jorge Luis Pinto had already dismissed suggestions that the temperature might suit his players better than their opponents. “I believe it is quite warm in Greece too at this time of year,” the Costa Rica coach said. “The conditions will be the same for both sides.”
The pace of the game was predictably slow, with both sides playing conservatively at first, though of course Greece always play conservatively. Invited to come forward Costa Rica gradually felt their way into the match, moving the ball around neatly and proving capable of turning past defenders, though when Cristian Gamboa had an early sight of goal he put his effort well wide. Christian Bolaños did better a couple of minutes later, sending a fierce shot narrowly wide from Bryan Ruiz’s pass after the referee had played a good advantage. Joel Campbell showed tenacity in setting Ruiz free on the left but could not reach the return pass in the middle, before Ruiz produced the subtlest of backheels to find space for Gamboa, an attack that led to a corner and eventually a free-kick just outside the area. Bolaños sent over a tempting cross, but Giancarlo González could not direct his header anywhere near goal.
Greece’s only goal attempt by the midpoint of the first half had been a Sokratis Papastathopoulos header from a corner that missed by a distance, and though Giorgos Karagounis produced a shot on target just before the half-hour it was a hopeful effort from distance and an easy save for Keylor Navas. Their only attacking tactic appeared to be long balls towards Samaras, which was reasonable when they were reaching the striker but questionable when he stopped running for them. Costa Rica came up with their share of overhit passes too; in an uneventful and unexciting first half it was necessary to keep reminding oneself that one of these teams had knocked out Ivory Coast while the other had inflicted unexpected defeats on Uruguay and Italy.
When something notable finally happened, eight minutes before the interval, Costa Rica were indebted to their goalkeeper for a reaction save to keep out a goalbound effort from Dimitris Salpingidis. José Holebas had opened up Costa Rica with a great cross from the left wing, and when Salpingidis nipped ahead of his marker to met it at the far post a goal seemed certain, yet Navas stuck out a leg and the ball rolled off his shin for a corner.
Dull games have been a rarity at this World Cup, but this cautious, cagey meeting of two sides who have never been as far as the quarter-finals was proving an exception. In terms of noise produced by the crowd, the Mexican Wave was the highlight of the first half. The impression at the interval was that we were in for penalties and a long night, though Greece came close to scoring again after Lazaros Christodoulopoulos won a free-kick at the start of the second half. Holebas took it, and Samaras rose unchallenged for a header, only to direct the balls straight into Navas’s arms. While Samaras has never been the most reliable of strikers it was a clear-cut chance and Greece could only be encouraged. Costa Rica were not looking as invincible as they had in the group stage, they were beginning to look fairly ordinary, yet Greece are pretty ordinary too and when they look back at the 52nd-minute goal that handed their opponents the initiative they will kick themselves for some statuesque defending.
Bolaños simply rolled a pass along the edge of the penalty area where Ruiz was allowed time to meet it with his left foot, and what the shot lacked in speed or power it made up for in accuracy. A static Papastathopoulous watched it slide by in slow motion, and by the time Orestis Karnezis realised he needed to get across his goal he had left it too late and the ball was already trickling over the line. They all count, but Ruiz might now hold some sort of record for the slowest goal of the tournament. Costa Rica might have had a penalty on their next attack, and the Australian referee booked Oscar Granados on the substitutes’ bench for grumbling about the non-award, before the script took another turn with a second booking for Óscar Duarte. The defender had been shown yellow in the first half for a foul on Christodoulopoulos, and when he brought down Holebas right in front of Ben Williams the official had no hesitation in bringing out a second and then a red.
That left Costa Rica just over 20 minutes to play out with 10 men. One side strengthened their defence, the other looked to beef up their attack.
Campbell found himself alone beyond the halfway line. Greece’s best chance of an equaliser seemed to have gone came when Christodoulupoulos found Kostas Mitroglou on the six-yard line two minutes from the end but the Fulham player could not accept the opportunity and from his poor first touch the ball ended up in the goalkeeper’s arms. Navas was booked shortly after that, a little fussily, for taking his time over a goal kick, before Papastathopoulos provided the day’s second last-minute drama with an equaliser in the 90th minute. Theofanis Gekas saw a shot saved by Navas but the goalkeeper could only beat it out, and Papastathopoulos pounced. There was still time for Greece to come again and Navas, arching backwards, made a fine save from Mitroglou’s header in the dying seconds to take the game into extra-time.
When Sokratis Papastathopoulos equalised in the 91st minute it appeared Costa Rica were going to suffer the same fate as their Concacaf neighbours ,Mexico. Greece’s late goal took the game into extra time, but already down to 10 men after losing Oscar Duarte to a second yellow card midway through the second half, there seemed no way Costa Rica could survive for another half-hour.
Yet somehow they did, even managing a few enterprising moments of their own through José Cubero and Randall Brenes, although the Greeks were scandalously wasteful of some huge overlaps and promising positions in the second period of extra time, and Kostas Mitroglou saw a shot saved right at the death when he appeared more likely to score. Thus reprieved, Costa Rica completed a perfect set of penalties, scoring all five, with Michael Umaña hitting the winning shot as a result of Theo Gekas seeing his effort, Greece’s fourth, saved by Keylor Navas. The goalkeeper, without whom Costa Rica might not have seen extra time let alone penalties, dived to his right but beat away Gekas’s shot with his left hand.
While not quite as draining as the conditions in Fortaleza for Holland v Mexico, which kicked off four hours earlier in the heat of the afternoon, it was still a sultry evening at the Pernambuco Arena though Jorge Luis Pinto had already dismissed suggestions that the temperature might suit his players better than their opponents. “I believe it is quite warm in Greece too at this time of year,” the Costa Rica coach said. “The conditions will be the same for both sides.”
The pace of the game was predictably slow, with both sides playing conservatively at first, though of course Greece always play conservatively. Invited to come forward Costa Rica gradually felt their way into the match, moving the ball around neatly and proving capable of turning past defenders, though when Cristian Gamboa had an early sight of goal he put his effort well wide. Christian Bolaños did better a couple of minutes later, sending a fierce shot narrowly wide from Bryan Ruiz’s pass after the referee had played a good advantage. Joel Campbell showed tenacity in setting Ruiz free on the left but could not reach the return pass in the middle, before Ruiz produced the subtlest of backheels to find space for Gamboa, an attack that led to a corner and eventually a free-kick just outside the area. Bolaños sent over a tempting cross, but Giancarlo González could not direct his header anywhere near goal.
Greece’s only goal attempt by the midpoint of the first half had been a Sokratis Papastathopoulos header from a corner that missed by a distance, and though Giorgos Karagounis produced a shot on target just before the half-hour it was a hopeful effort from distance and an easy save for Keylor Navas. Their only attacking tactic appeared to be long balls towards Samaras, which was reasonable when they were reaching the striker but questionable when he stopped running for them. Costa Rica came up with their share of overhit passes too; in an uneventful and unexciting first half it was necessary to keep reminding oneself that one of these teams had knocked out Ivory Coast while the other had inflicted unexpected defeats on Uruguay and Italy.
When something notable finally happened, eight minutes before the interval, Costa Rica were indebted to their goalkeeper for a reaction save to keep out a goalbound effort from Dimitris Salpingidis. José Holebas had opened up Costa Rica with a great cross from the left wing, and when Salpingidis nipped ahead of his marker to met it at the far post a goal seemed certain, yet Navas stuck out a leg and the ball rolled off his shin for a corner.
Dull games have been a rarity at this World Cup, but this cautious, cagey meeting of two sides who have never been as far as the quarter-finals was proving an exception. In terms of noise produced by the crowd, the Mexican Wave was the highlight of the first half. The impression at the interval was that we were in for penalties and a long night, though Greece came close to scoring again after Lazaros Christodoulopoulos won a free-kick at the start of the second half. Holebas took it, and Samaras rose unchallenged for a header, only to direct the balls straight into Navas’s arms. While Samaras has never been the most reliable of strikers it was a clear-cut chance and Greece could only be encouraged. Costa Rica were not looking as invincible as they had in the group stage, they were beginning to look fairly ordinary, yet Greece are pretty ordinary too and when they look back at the 52nd-minute goal that handed their opponents the initiative they will kick themselves for some statuesque defending.
Bolaños simply rolled a pass along the edge of the penalty area where Ruiz was allowed time to meet it with his left foot, and what the shot lacked in speed or power it made up for in accuracy. A static Papastathopoulous watched it slide by in slow motion, and by the time Orestis Karnezis realised he needed to get across his goal he had left it too late and the ball was already trickling over the line. They all count, but Ruiz might now hold some sort of record for the slowest goal of the tournament. Costa Rica might have had a penalty on their next attack, and the Australian referee booked Oscar Granados on the substitutes’ bench for grumbling about the non-award, before the script took another turn with a second booking for Óscar Duarte. The defender had been shown yellow in the first half for a foul on Christodoulopoulos, and when he brought down Holebas right in front of Ben Williams the official had no hesitation in bringing out a second and then a red.
That left Costa Rica just over 20 minutes to play out with 10 men. One side strengthened their defence, the other looked to beef up their attack.
Campbell found himself alone beyond the halfway line. Greece’s best chance of an equaliser seemed to have gone came when Christodoulupoulos found Kostas Mitroglou on the six-yard line two minutes from the end but the Fulham player could not accept the opportunity and from his poor first touch the ball ended up in the goalkeeper’s arms. Navas was booked shortly after that, a little fussily, for taking his time over a goal kick, before Papastathopoulos provided the day’s second last-minute drama with an equaliser in the 90th minute. Theofanis Gekas saw a shot saved by Navas but the goalkeeper could only beat it out, and Papastathopoulos pounced. There was still time for Greece to come again and Navas, arching backwards, made a fine save from Mitroglou’s header in the dying seconds to take the game into extra-time.
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