DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
2014 WORLD CUP
July 5, 2014  | By David Bianculli

ESPN, 4:00 p.m. ET

 

In the last of this year’s World Cup quarterfinals, the Netherlands face Costa Rica – and Costa Rica faces yet another formidable foe in a story line that has developed as the Cinderella story of the 2014 World Cup. Costa Rica has never made it to a quarterfinal before, and wasn’t expected to even make it past the group stage this year. It was placed in a group that, for the first time in World Cup history, included three former World Cup winners: Italy, Uruguay and England. Yet Costa Rica beat the first two teams and fought to a draw with the third, then battled Greece though regulation and bonus play before beating them 5-3 in a dramatic penalty shootout. The Netherlands, comparatively, has been dominant this year, winning all three of its group stage games, then dispatching Mexico 2-1 in the round of 16. If you root for David in these David vs. Goliath matches, align your allegiance with Costa Rica.

 
 
 
 
 
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