Shootout hero Navas helps Costa Rica reach quarters
Tuesday, 1 July 2014 00:22
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REUTERS: Costa Rica reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time by beating Greece 5-3 on penalties on Sunday after conceding a stoppage time equaliser and playing 54 minutes with 10 men.
After the 1-1 draw following extra time, Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas made a superb one-handed stop to keep out Theofanis Gekas’s fourth spot-kick before Michael Umana fired high into the top corner to send the Central Americans into a last eight meeting with Netherlands.
“Last night, I dreamt, this, it seems untrue. I was relaxed because I dreamed it. I dreamed it but I didn’t tell anyone. I felt very confident,” said Umana.
“This is for my family. It’s for the colleagues who got injured before coming here. They’re not with us, but they gave us a hand on the pitch.”
The Ticos, whose only previous appearance in the last 16 came in 1990, will play the Dutch in Salvador next Saturday.
Greece coach Fernando Santos was sent to the stands before the shootout started and the tension mounted as seven penalties hit the back of the net before Gekas stepped up to the spot.
The substitute hit it firmly to the keeper’s left but Navas leapt athletically to push it clear with one hand, leaving Umana to thrash his effort into the top left corner.
