Quarterfinal Recaps: Netherlands End Cinderella Story and Argentina End Belgium

The final quarterfinal games were Netherlands vs. Costa Rica and Argentina vs. Belgium. In the Argentina vs. Belgium game, Argentina scored the only goal when Lionel Messi took the ball away from Belgium and then passed to Angel Di Maria. Di Maria looked for Pablo Zabaleta, but his pass went to Gonzalo Higuain, who scored on his first touch with a shot at the far post past Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois. Argentina keeper Sergio Ramos soon had to save Kevin De Bruyne`s 20 yard drive. Di Maria left in the 33rd minute when he got a thigh strain. Higuain nearly scored again in the 55th when his header went wide. Argentina, obviously the better team, failed to kill the game off but advanced with the 1-0 win and will face the Netherlands next.
The last quarterfinal game was Netherlands vs. Costa Rica. Netherlands had many chances in the 90 minutes, with the first being Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas stopping Robin van Persie`s shot before getting the ball from Wesley Sneijder`s shot. In the 29th, Navas used his boot to block Memphis Depay`s shot. In the 34th, a Costa Rica setpiece came close when Christian Bolanos headed one that was cleared off the line. Navas soon stopped Sneijder`s 25 yard strike when Navas dove to his right. In the 81st, Sneijder`s free kick went past Navas but hit the post before it was cleared. Van Persie was stopped twice late in the 84th when Navas Stopped his again when van Persie got a loose ball, and in the 89th with a wide open hit, deflected off a defender on the line before off the crossbar and ending in a goal kick. Sneijder beat Navas again in extra time but it hit the crossbar. Costa Rica`s only shot on target was in extra time when Holland keeper Jasper Cillessen stopped Dave Myrie`s close range shot. Before extra time was done, Cillessen was subbed off for keeper Tim Krul, the first time a keeper was subbed for penalties in WC history. In penalties, Arjen Robben, van Persie, Sneijder, and Tim Kuyt converted on their shots, as for Costa Rica, made 3 of 5 with Michael Umana and Bryan Ruiz had their shots stopped and failed to advance with Holland facing Argentina next.