The irresistible fairytale of Costa
Rica faces a day of reckoning against Louis van Gaal’s hard, calculating Dutch
side on Saturday in the Brazil World Cup’s most unlikely quarter-final
ew believed that Costa Rica, a small
Central American country with an undistinguished footballing record, would
still be standing, especially after a group including Italy, England and
Uruguay.
Yet “Los Ticos” shocked Uruguay and
Italy to top a group bracketing three World Cup winners, before battling past
Greece on penalties after playing an hour with only 10 men.
Despite the talents of Joel Campbell
and Bryan Ruiz in attack, it has been more a case of grit and organisation than
Latin flair with Jorge Luis Pinto’s side conceding only two goals so far and
scoring five.
Costa Rica have already outdone
their best World Cup performance, reaching the last 16 in 1990, much to the
jubilation of fans back home whose celebrations have stretched long into the
night.
Whether the parties continue depends
on the Netherlands, whose hard-nosed approach and late comebacks have already
dashed the dreams of millions of fans in Chile and Mexico.
The 2010 finalists began the World
Cup with a heady 5-1 rout of reigning champions Spain, and then came from
behind to beat Australia 3-2.
Objections surfaced over their
counter-attacking style after the 2-0 win against Chile, which was achieved
with two late goals and with veteran forward Dirk Kuyt playing left-back.
And much sympathy for the Oranje
evaporated when Arjen Robben, after earning the injury-time penalty that sank
Mexico 2-1, admitted diving during the last-16 tie.
After a furore over those comments
Robben will not expect any favours from Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov, who is
yet to give a penalty in his eight-game World Cup career.
But the Bayern Munich flyer’s duel
against Keylor Navas, one of the World Cup’s goalkeeping heroes whose
one-handed penalty stop denied Greece, will be closely watched.
Navas, who is expected to recover
from a shoulder injury, can also expect a work-out from Robin van Persie with
emerging PSV Eindhoven star Memphis Depay likely to figure later on.
In a blow to the Dutch, midfield
enforcer Nigel de Jong is out with a groin injury, meaning a reshuffle for the
Manchester United-bound Van Gaal.
But the coach has shown cool
tactical nous and opportunism, first by redeploying Kuyt and also using the
World Cup’s first cooling break to switch tactics against Mexico.
Costa Rica have problems in defence
with centre-back Oscar Duarte — who scored a brilliant header against Uruguay —
suspended and the left-sided Roy Miller an injury concern.
Up front, expect another starring
role from Campbell, 22, whose eye-catching tournament could prompt Arsenal to
recall him after loan spells at Lorient, Real Betis and Olympiakos.
Playing behind Campbell will be the
assured Ruiz, 28, completing an attacking duo which has yielded three of Costa
Rica’s goals so far.
The Fulham forward said Costa Rica
were capable of shocking the Dutch — a seismic upset for the World Cup, but one
which would find favour with neutrals and romantics.
“Saturday’s game is like a final for
us, but we don’t want to stop there,” said Ruiz.
“Holland is a great team, but I have
to be honest and say that we have a good chance of beating them. But we have to
take care of a lot of details if we want to win.”
The eventual winner at Salvador’s
Fonte Nova Arena will play either Argentina or Belgium for a place in the July
13 final in Rio de Janeiro
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