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Sports
A Late Meltdown for Mexico RICARDO MAZALAN (AP)
Netherlands scores in 88th minute and injury time in 2-1 win World Cup
Costa Rica beat Greece in a penalty shootout to reach the quarterfinals.
AP PHOTOS
Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Wesley Sneijder scored late goals Sunday to give the Netherlands a 2-1 victory over Mexico and a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. Huntelaar, who came on as a 76th-minute substitute, scored the winning goal from the penalty spot deep in injury time after Rafael Marquez brought down Arjen Robben in the area. “You don’t know when your chance will come, but it was today, and so you grab it with both hands,” said Huntelaar, who was making his first appearance at this year’s World Cup. “And it was fantastic.” Giovani Dos Santos gave the Mexicans the lead in the 48th minute, but Sneijder equalized for the Dutch in the 88th.
Left: The Netherlands’ Arjen Robben goes down to earn a penalty kick. Right: A Mexico fan sits in the stands after the match.
It was the first time Sneijder, who scored five goals at the last World Cup in South Africa, has found the net in Brazil. Robben has already scored three goals for the Dutch at this year’s tournament, but after earning the late penalty, he handed the ball to Huntelaar.
It was heartbreak again for Mexico, which has now reached the second stage of the World Cup six straight times without winning. The last time the team made the quarterfinals was when it hosted the tournament in 1986. After the final whistle, the Mexican players collapsed, distraught
on the turf while many of their fans were in tears. Mexico coach Miguel Herrera blamed the referee for the loss, saying Robben dived to earn the penalty. “Today it was the man with the whistle who eliminated us from the World Cup,” Herrera said. MIKE CORDER (AP)
World Cup Highly physical, probably defensive and anxiety-ridden for sure. Not exactly the kind of happy football that fans have enjoyed so far at the World Cup, but it’s the likely scenario for Tuesday’s second-round match between Belgium and the United States. The stakes certainly are high enough. Belgium has not reached the quarterfinals since 1986 and the U.S. team has already exceeded expectations by emerging from a tough opening group and wants to ride that momentum.
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“Don’t be content,” U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “Nobody can claim that he reached his 100 percent yet.” That was after the Americans played three grueling games in the Amazon jungle and Brazil’s tropical northeast coast. The U.S. finished ahead of Portugal and Ghana, taking second place in Group G behind Germany. Tuesday’s winner will face either Argentina or Switzerland — playing at noon Tuesday on ESPN — in Brasilia on Saturday. Getting past Belgium is no easy task. So far it has conceded only one
ANDREW MEDICHINI (AP)
Don’t Expect Goals Galore From U.S., Belgium
Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has allowed one goal in three games.
goal — a penalty at that — in three games. And in Thibaut Courtois, the team has arguably the most exciting young goalkeeper in the world. Belgium has treaded extremely carefully to line up three one-goal victories and emerge from its group with a perfect record. Holding back, avoiding errors and pouncing late has become its mantra, and if fans deplore the lack of joy — too bad. “If you ask me whether to produce thrills and leave after the group stage, or win all games 1-0 and win the World Cup, I prefer 1-0. That is clear,” Belgium coach Marc Wilmots said. R AF CASERT (AP)
Tweets generated in the minute after Chilean defender Gonzalo Jara’s penalty shot hit the right post and
allowed Brazil to avoid an early exit from the World Cup on Saturday. That broke the previous mark set during this year’s Super Bowl. About 382,000 tweets were sent just after the Seahawks’ Percy Harvin returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown, according to data compiled by the microblogging site Twitter. But overall, the NFL showpiece game generated nearly 25 million tweets, trouncing the 16.4 million during Saturday’s Round of 16 match, the most-tweeted yet during the tournament. (AP)
Costa Rica Survives in Penalties World Cup Ten-man Costa Rica beat Greece in a penalty shootout Sunday to reach the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time. Michael Umana scored the decisive penalty as Costa Rica won the shootout 5-3 after the game ended 1-1 following extra time. Theofanis Gekas saw his penalty saved by Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas for the only miss in the shootout. Costa Rica had taken the lead early in the second half of regulation time through captain Bryan Ruiz but then had defender Oscar Duarte sent off in the 66th minute. Greece scored an equalizer in injury time of regulation when Sokratis Papastathopoulos smashed in a rebound and finally made the team’s numerical advantage pay off. Costa Rica will play the Netherlands in the quarterfinals Saturday. GER ALD IMR AY (AP)
Round of 16 Today France vs. Nigeria (noon, ESPN) Germany vs. Algeria (4 p.m., ESPN) Tuesday Argentina vs. Switzerland (noon, ESPN) Belgium vs. USA (4 p.m., ESPN)