World Cup: Costa Rica defeats Greece in PK’s, advance to quarterfinals

The knockout stage has begun, and the incredible drama and play at the World Cup has not dissipated one iota yet. Today, Group D winners Costa Rica took on Group C runner-ups Greece in Arena Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil. Costa Rica was hoping to win its third straight game at the World Cup while Greece was hoping to bounce back from the 3-0 loss at the hands of Colombia last week.

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The first half did not provide that much excitement as neither team were able to score. Shockingly, Greece were on the attack, having four shots on goal compared to zero from Costa Rica. Greece had a few really strong opportunities to score, but Costa Rica’s defense stood tall when it mattered most.

The second half got off to a quick start when Costa Rica finally broke through in the 52nd minute off the foot of Bryan Ruiz. Greece’s defense looked stunned as Christian Bolanos sent a perfect through ball to the feet of Ruiz who finished the goal just outside of the box.

Just a minute or so later, Costa Rica was robbed from a penalty shot when a Greece defender clearly touched a volley into the box with his hand. The referees missed the handball, and thus Costa Rica was not awarded the opportunity to go up 2-0.

In the 66th minute, Oscar Duarte of Costa Rica committed a foolish foul leading to his second yellow card of the game and him being sent off the pitch. From then on, Costa Rica was forced to play with only 10 men on the field.

Just when it seemed that Costa Rica would escape with a 1-0 victory, Greece forced extra time as they scored an equalizer in the 91st minute of the game during stoppage time. Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored on a rebound after the Costa Rican goalkeeper saved the first attempt.

Neither team was able to score in either half of the extra time due to sheer exhaustion displayed by both sides. Even with Costa Rica down a man, Greece could not find the Golden Goal to win it.

The game then moved on to penalty kicks, where the drama continued to unfold. Both teams made their first three penalty kicks. Greece missed their fourth after Costa Rica hit their fourth to put them on the brink of elimination.

With the fifth penalty kick, Michael Umana of Costa Rica was able to score, winning the game and moving on to the quarter finals of the World Cup.