Costa Rica Win Shoot-Out Over Greece

(5-3 pen.)1-1 

Costa Rica and Greece are two of the more surprising teams to reach the knock-out round in the World Cup.  Today the two face each other looking to advance to the quarter-finals.  Both teams play with an emphasis on defense and quality scoring chances were rare.  The first-half ended with neither side pulling ahead.

Captain Bryan Ruiz scored for Costa Rica early in the second-half to take the lead.  Finding space in front of goal, Ruiz directed a rather weak shot to the far-post.  The ball was placed just far enough to avoid the hands of keeper Keylor Navas (52').

Greece are used to playing from behind and a missed tackle by Óscar Duarte left Costa Rica with ten men.  Duarte received a yellow card in the first-half for a foul and saw another in the second-half when he missed a tackle on José Cholevas (R.C. 66').

Playing with one more man than Costa Rica allowed Greece to push numbers forward and found the equalizer in the time added to regulation.  Substitute Theofanis Gekas got a shot on goal that was blocked by keeper Navas.  Sokratis Papastathopoulos was in the right place and knocked the rebound into the net (90 +1').

The match went to extra-time and for Greece it was more of the same.  Despite playing almost entirely in Costa Rica's half, neither team could score the winning goal.  For the second time in the round of 16 a penalty shootout was required to determine the winner.

Costa Rica shot first and scored the first four shots from the spot.  Greece matched Costa Rica for their first three shots, but keeper Navas made a big save to deny the fourth shot by Gekas.  Costa Rica could then end the shootout with a successful shot by the fifth shooter.  That task fell to defender Michael Umaña and he finished from the spot to win the match.

More than once Greece scored late to keep their dreams alive, but it will be Costa Rica who advance and play the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

France Mount Come-Back for World Cup Finals

 3-0 

(3-2) Aggregate               

France came into today's World Cup qualifier down two goal to the Ukraine after a scoreless effort in Kiev on Friday.  Each team had a player sent off in the first meeting, Koscielny for France and Kucher for Ukraine, and France especially felt the need to make other changes to the line-up.  Benzema and Valbuena started over Giroud and Nasri which gave the offense much more energy.  The most important changes proved to be in the defense though, with Sakho and Varane replacing Abidal and Koscienly.

Playing in front of their home fans France were much more lively than the first meeting and created all the early chances.  Centerback Sakho benefited from a shot by Ribèry that was saved by the Ukraine keeper.  Pyatov did well to stop the initial shot, but the rebound fell right for Sakho who was waiting in the right place (22').

France kept the pressure on the Ukraine and racked up more shots.  Benzema had one goal denied by an offsides call that was shown to be an error on replay.  The missed call didn't make much difference however, and Benzema scored a clean goal moments later.  Cabaye sent a skipping shot towards goal that was deflected right into the path of Benzema for the finish (34').

The second goal leveled the aggregate score, but the Ukaine could still put the pressure back on France with one crucial away-goal.  Neither side made any changes at half-time as both mangers felt their squads were sound.  Unfortunately for the Ukraine a costly mistake by centerback Khacheridi left them short-handed for the remainder of the match.  Khacheridi had seen a yellow card in the first-half and saw a second following a foul on Ribèry just minutes after the break.

With an extra man to their advantage France were able to keep the pressure on the Ukraine and score the deciding goal.  Sakho took credit for the goal, though it was tough to see if the goal was not an own-goal scored by Rakitskiy.  Sakho was right behind the defender as the cross came in, and the ball ended up in the net which is all France truly cared about (72').

The Ukraine could not grind out a goal and will go home with heavy hearts coming just short of a World Cup appearance.  France were not the only nation to secure a spot in Brazil today as Portugal, Greece, and Croatia all won their playoff matches.