Tough wins for Argentina and Netherlands – residents comment

Argentina and Netherlands worked hard to beat Belgium and Costa Rica in the last two quarter-final matches on day 21 of the 2014 Fifa World Cup Brazil, 05 and 06 July.

Residents commented on the matches on social media  (see below).

Argentina and Netherlands join Germany and Brazil in the semi-finals, and will play each other on 09 July.

Argentina edged Belgium 1–0 through a fine goal by Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain in the eighth minute.

A pass was deflected off Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen straight to Higuain, who struck hard but accurately into the very left of goal, leaving no chance for Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois.

Courtois later pulled off a remarkable save, after going one-on-one with four times Fifa World Player of the Year Lionel Messi in injury time.

@L3s3go My dog was barking during the match. Now he is quiet, Weird

— Nicholas Zaal (@NicholasZaal) July 5, 2014

@nyembes One on one with Thibaut Courtois would not be easy but ja Messi should have done scored. — Nicholas Zaal (@NicholasZaal) July 5, 2014

Netherlands then beat Costa Rica 4–3 in penalties after a 0–0 draw.

Netherlands dominated the match with 64 per cent possession, 20 shots verus Costa Rica’s six and 15 shots on target versus the Central Americans’ three.

But Netherlands could not score, a fact epitomised by Robin van Persie, all-time top goal scorer for Netherlands with 46 goals, swiping at the ball close range from the goal to find he had missed the ball completely.

Right at the end of extra time, Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal made the brilliant move of substituting his playing keeper, Jasper Cillessen, with the keeper on the bench, Tim Krul, expressly to save penalties.

Krul waited 120 minutes plus injury time to for the chance to play, and when given the opportunity he did not disappoint, saving the penalties of Costa Rica forward Bryan Ruiz and defender Michael Umana.

The Dutch converted all their penalties.

Spokesperson for Randburg Football Club Marlon Abrahams said that in his personal view Argentina is the second most likely team to win the world cup after Brazil.

Interestingly, Netherlands is his third choice.

He cited Argentina’s geographical proximity to Brazil, them being Brazil’s traditional rivals and the Messi factor as support for Argentina’s cause, while Netherlands have played in more finals than any other team without winning, and coach Louis van Gaal “has what it takes”.

Share your views of matches with us by tweeting with the hashtag #jozikicks, or comment on questions posted on our Facebook wall and we will include some of your views in our match summaries.

Read day 20′s action here.