Netherlands and Costa Rica beat Mexico and Greece in round of 16 matches on day 17 of the 2014 Fifa World Cup, 29 June, to schedule a quarter-final match against each other on 05 July.
Residents commented on the matches (see below).
Netherlands beat Mexico 2–1 by coming from behind and scoring twice in the last minutes of the match.
Dos Santos first scored for Mexico with a powerful shot from outside the box which landed on the right side of the goal in the 48th minute.
Netherlands tried and tried again until Sneijder finally scored for them with a powerful half-volley into the left of the goal in the 88th minute.
Then in injury time Netherland’s Robben was tripped in the box by Mexico’s Marquez, and Huntelaar converted the penalty by shooting hard into the left of the goal.
Costa Rica then beat Greece 5–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.
Ruiz first scored for Costa Rica, firing in from the edge of the box after no one marked him in the 52nd minute.
Costa Rica’s Duarte received a second yellow card and was sent off for a foul on Greece’s Cholevas in the 66th minute.
Sokratis equalised for Greece in injury time, shooting hard after Costa Rica keeper Navas could only block a shot back.
After no goals were scored in extra time, penalties were executors and all takers scored, except for Greece’s Gekas, whose shot was saved by Navas.
When Umana scored Costa Rica’s fifth penalty, Greece’s last penalty was unnecessary.
Residents comment on Twitter:
Spokesperson for Randburg Football Club Marlon Abrahams said that in his personal view Netherlands are the third most likely team to win the world cup, after Brazil and Argentina.
This is because Netherlands have played more finals than any other team without winning, and manager Louis van Gaal failed to qualify for the world cup in 2002, and so “has a score to settle” and “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 16′s action here.
