And then there were four....
Today's matches saw two favorites edge the underdogs in the narrowest of fashions.
Argentina (1) - Belgium (0)
Belgium's luck ran out today as there were bested by Argentina.
Even when Messi doesn't get the assist or goal, he still gets the credit for drawing defenders to him and starting the play off with a penetrating pass.
The Albiceleste scored in the 8th minute and their defense was stiff enough to deny Belgium's weak forays for the rest of the afternoon.
Messi was stuffed on a break-away in the closing minutes, but the Argentinian fans were still in a frenzy. They have had the easiest road to the semis. Messi will need to be in top form if the scrappy Argentinians are to win against the Dutch. Let's hope Ángel di María will recover from his leg injury in time for the semi.
Netherlands 0 (4) - Costa Rica 0 (3)
The Dutch dominated much of the play, but it was the stingy Costa Rican defense that was the story of the day.
The game went the distance, including two scoreless overtimes.
Keylor Navas, the Costa Rican goalkeeper, played flawlessly all day,
repeatedly denying the Dutch, but he was unable to stop any of their
penalties, which they buried with aplomb.
Just before it went to penalties, Netherlands substituted in specialist Tim Krul, who replaced Cillessen for
the shootout. Krul guessed right on all five of Costa Rica's penalties and was able to stop two, which was enough to win the shootout 4-3.
The Dutch had never won a World Cup game in overtime (0-7). This win sets up a semi-final against the peaking Argentinians. Can Messi and company pull off the upset?
Winner will face either Brazil or Germany in the final!
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