After going down to ten men after Oscar Duarte took a second yellow and with a slim one goal lead, Costa Rica were pressured to no end by a Greek attack which suddenly awoke to whip in countless crosses in the last 20 minutes. Though Sokratis Papastathopoulos equalized in dramatic fashion, Greece couldn’t find the breakthrough in extra time. It went down to pens, and all were converted, save for Gekas’ attempt.
Umana took the winning penalty, and Costa Rica, the team nobody saw leaving a group with England, Uruguay and Italy, are heading to the quarterfinals.
This. World. Cup.
The Goals
GOAL! Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica) 52nd min. One of the weirdest goals of this tournament, Joel Campbell sends in Bolanos, as Costa Rica start the second half brightly. Bolonas finds Bryan Ruiz outside the centre of the box, who sends in this rolling, bouncing, happy wanderer of a slow motion shot to the right side of the net. Karnezis doesn’t seem to see it, and does nothing to stop it. The oddest of things…
GOAL! Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Greece) 90 + 1 min. The Greek comeback kings do it again! And slightly less controversially this time! A crowd of Greek bodies in the box sees Gekas whip a shot to the right which Navas saves, but the ball falls into the path of the onrushing Papastathopoulos who bounces a shot in the net. The 10-man Costa Rica were under pressure for the last twenty minutes, and the goal seemed to be coming…
Penalties
All were converted in expert fashion, one after another, even the exhausted Joel Campbell’s. Then Navas saved Gekas’ kick, and Umana calmly converted to the top left, putting Costa Rica through.
Man of the Match - Keylor Navas
The Costa Rican keeper had already been outstanding, but his performance in this match, with seven saves—not including the game-winning (and probably illegal) stop on Gekas—saw the small CONCACAF nation through to the next round. He had some help from his last ditch defending backline, but Navas made some crucial saves in extra time, including on Mitroglou, that kept CRC breathing. An incredible match performance.
The Controversy
Costa Rica should have had a penalty in the 55th minute after Torosidis handled a cross in the Costa Rican box. A clear handball that the linesman didn’t see. Two-nil would have put the fixture largely beyond the reach of a plodding Greek side. The non-call may have also been the reason why the reserve keeper Oscar Granados was carded on the bench.
What did Costa Rica do to win?
Hang on. Costa Rica and Greece played a very plodding first half, with Costa Rica’s five-man defense, a thin midfield, and three counterattacking players up front were cancelled out by Greece’s 4-1-4-1. Greece for their part were reticent to push up players to assist in the counter and so the game was a stalemate.
Then Costa Rica finally got their break with a strange Ruiz goal, and Costa Rica looked a good bet to finish the result. Then Duarte picked up a second yellow. After that it was Roy of the Rovers stuff, last ditch kick aways, incredible saves, mad clearances. Greece found their winner and they nearly won it in extra time save for Navas’ intervention.
Patience, and luck in the shooutout, won the day.
The Takeaway
A slightly better iteration of Greece than in recent years goes home, and Costa Rica have a date with the Netherlands in the Game of their Lives. What was a boring game became a minor classic, a game that Costa Ricans will never, ever forget.
The 1,000 Words
Stray Thoughts
Greece had a gilt-edged chance to finish the game in the second period of extra time, breaking with five players on two, ending in a shot which Navas easily parried. How Greece didn’t bury Costa Rica I’ll never know. I know the old yarn about big breaks never coming off, but it doesn’t help when all five players run in parallel lines right at the keeper.
Óscar Duarte’s sending off shortly after the Costa Rican goal completely changed the tenor of the match and Greece ruthlessly took advantage with cross after cross into Navas’ box. Last-ditch defending could only take the Ticos so far...luck in the penalties won out though.
Navas seemed to come off the line a lot in the shootout. Is FIFA cool with that now?
Fernando Santos was sent off after extra time. Lord knows what he was complaining about. Handball in the 55th minute, man!
