Nice work by Krul. I’ve always liked him during his time at Newcastle.
Bummer for the Ticos. They played really well, and i would love to have seen them go through.
It sucks to bet everything on a penalty shootout, only to find out you suck at shooting penalty’s 
Tim Krul!
Brilliant move by VG!
The Netherlands are going to have to step it up if they are going to get past Argentina. They looked pretty damn conservative and at times ponderous with all that backward passing.
Holy cow, I’m watching the recap. I’m absolutely amazed that Holland did not score during the match.
Van Persie’s seriously off form. Fatigue? Injury?
So, Germany v Brazil, Argentina v Netherlands. Repeat of two former finals, 2002 and 1978.
Have any two teams played each other in three finals? I don’t think so.
1974 Germany - Holland
No, you’re right. If I’ve got it right, Brazil has beat Italy twice, and Argentina and (West) Germany split consecutive finals.
Brazil against either the Argentine or the Netherlands would be a first; Germany against the Netherlands would be the second final between them, and of course Germany and Argentina would be their third matchup in the finals.
(subject to correction)
Yeah, me too.
Still, it’s hard to feel too bad about the result, especially when Costa Rica have already exceeded expectations to such an extent. They’ve had a great WC. They can hold their heads high.
I’m sad Ticos lost, but I’m glad they kept the fight. That was something very few expected, what with the comments before about how Holland was going to demolish them, I think others were expecting lots of goals from them.
Wow that was a nerve-wracking game… frustrating for me because Holland and Costa Rica are my two favorite quarterfinalists and they had to face each other…
Two random off-topic questions/observations:
(1) Is there some stat about the total clock time in all knockout games during which there was a 2-goal difference between the teams? Seems like it must be a historical low, as only 3 games had any at all, if I’m counting right, two of them only very briefly.
(2) I don’t follow soccer much between the World Cups, so it’s my main time to be exposed to whoever is currently the great players in the game. It seems to me that for whatever reason, Brazilian stars have a much shorter lifespan than anyone else. Eight years ago it was Ronaldo and Rivaldo. Four years ago it was Ronaldinho. This year it’s Neymar. Basically a new crop of stars every WC. Compare that to other countries… Dutch stars are the same as last WC, Argentina still has Messi, Portugal still has CR, England still has Wayne Rooney, Spanish big names remained largely unchanged. I feel like this has to be either random chance or just my ignorance preventing me from remembering correctly, but has anyone else noticed this? Does it mean anything?
Sad asI am for the Costa Ricans I thought the Dutch justabout deserved the win.
Would there be anything more brutal for the South American locals than Brazil vs. Argentina… In the 3rd place game? They should really do away with 3rd place games. I can’t imagine anyone that’s happy playing in that game.
No! As a Germany supporter, it is my right to watch them in the 3rd place match. 3 3rd place medals in 3 World Cups has a sort of mystical bent to it.
Ronaldinho played in 2 consecutive World Cups (2002 and 2006). Ronaldo played in 3 consecutive WC’s (1998, 2002, 2006). Maybe you are misrembering?
If they want to keep the pointless third-place game, they should make it worth something. Like make the losing team eat the game ball or something.
In other news, Di María is out for the duration. That is not great news for Argentina’s title ambitions. He’s had a great tournament, in my opinion, and has probably had the most possession of any Argentine player so far. I hope they can get into an attacking rhythm without him.
Much as I would have liked Costa Rica to continue their fairytale run, I think the Netherlands were by far the more deserving winners.
So four heavyweights in the semi-finals; can’t remember the last time that has happened. All the 12 knockout games have gone according to expectations and I am not even sure what expectations are for the remaining games.
You would imagine Germany have the edge against Brazil without Neymar and Silva but you can’t overlook the benefits of home advantage and I don’t think Germany have really dominated since their first game against Portugal. No clue about Netherlands-Argentina either.
I wouldn’t mind any of these teams winning.
Brazil: Watching Brazil win in Brazil would be epic and it would be great to see them rally after losing Neymar.
Argentina: Messi has been superb so far and deserves to join the ranks of all-time greats who have won the Cup.
Germany: So consistent in the last three cups, they deserve to win this time
Netherlands: Three times finalists, they deserve to win too
I guess the flip side is I will be a bit sad for the three that don’t make it.
I do remember that Ronaldinho played twice, but he was only capital-R-Ronaldinho the second time, as I recall. Maybe Brazil has so many absolute top-notch stars that even when one is excellent for multiple straight world cups, they’ve always been eclipsed and aren’t The Star for more than one, and in my fairly shallow view of things that’s all I’m remembering?
No, Ronaldo played three times from 98 to 06.
Rivaldo played in 98 and 02
Kaka played in 06 and 10