When Dutch coach Louis van Gaal called substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul into the quarterfinals match versus Costa Rica near the end of the second half of extra time, it was a nervy move.
It was fitting that the final quarterfinal match of this World Cup came to this: nil-nil through regular time and thirty extra minutes, to be decided by penalties. It was a round that saw the high-scoring nature of the Group round fully give way to a generally conservative and low scoring pace (only Brazil scored two goals during the run of play in these Quarters). As a result, all eight group winners appeared quite evenly matched (there wasn't a margin of victory greater than 1 goal this round).
Argentina are through to the semifinals after beating Colombia 1-0 in Esadio Nacional in Brasilia.
Argentina didn’t waste time getting going in this match. Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria found the ball frequently and helped free up their teammates. Di Maria got a little luck and a pass that was headed for Pablo Zabaleta was redirected right to the feet of Gonzalo Higuaín. The Napoli man had no problem with the bounding ball, and brilliantly volley'd it passed stout Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
And so the road to Rio is a little further travelled. Brazil, somehow, have stumbled their way into the semi-finals courtesy of a nervy 2-1 win over Colombia. But they’ll face Germany without their young talisman Neymar, who sustained a nasty blow to his lower spine and is now out for the rest of the tournament.
Germany beat France 1-0 in the Maracana, earning them a spot in the semifinals for the 4th straight World Cup.
The first half wasn’t very eventful. Neither team could spark anything in their opponent's third, and the only real action happened after a poor Paul Pogba foul that gave Germany a set piece from distance in the 12th minute. Toni Kroos whipped in a great ball that found the head Mats Hummels, who flicked a perfect header past French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Jimmy Kimmel’s "Lie Witness News" is one of the better segments amongst late night talk shows. The always-hilarious interviews put so-called “fans” into place by asking them questions that should be pretty easy to answer. If you know anything about the topic of which you're a supposed fan.
The group stage is over and this year's World Cup has not been short on goals. The group stage saw 136 goals which is only nine less than the total amount of goals scored in the 2010 World Cup. The knockout stage has followed suit. Here are our favorite goals from each match day during the knockout stage. You can also check out our favorite goals from the Group stage by clicking here. Just a heads up it's going to be hard to dethrone James Rodriguez from the top of our list.
With the USA out of World Cup 2014, some of you may still be feeling the effects of the crushing defeat. Maybe you can’t fathom rooting for another nation. But, on the other hand, you’ve gotten really into fútbol and you’re searching for a new bandwagon to hop on for the rest of the World Cup.
Not to fear, ladies and gentleman. We here at The18 have created a profile for each team to tell you where your new loyalties should lie.
The Favorite: Brazil
You didn’t need to know much about futbol to notice that Tim Howard was the United States' savior throughout a tough Round of 16 match against Belgium.
The stupendous run of the USMNT was halted short in the Round of 16 in Salvador on Tuesday. Belgium beat the United States 2-1 in extra time, finding both of their goals past the 90 minute mark.