Chris Maduewesi
Member
The North American country continued their fairy tale run in the competition,firmly holding out to secure victory via penalties after the match ended 1-1 in regulation time.
It was a match that was evenly matched between two teams who many didn't think would have made it to this stage of the competition.
Both teams contained themselves in the opening stages of the match,having just limited chances to score a goal.
Salpigindis came close for Greece and Joel Campbell had a penalty shout turned down in the first half of the game.
But Bryan Ruiz found the net through a low effort from the edge of the box into the left corner to put Costa Rica ahead in the game.
They defended with their lives and the task was made more difficult when Duarte was given the matching order,reducing Costa Rica to ten men.
And just as they did in their last match against Ivory Coast,Greece left it very late to find a goal.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos came up with the equalizer,netting a rebound in stoppage time to level the tie.
Greece carried the momentum going into extra time and looked the more likelier to score a goal.
Keylor Navas was magnificent in goal for Costa Rica making repeated saves,particularly one that he made himself big to keep out Mitroglou who missed a golden opportunity to win it for his side in extra time.
And Teofanis Gekas was the only one who missed his own kick after Navas proved his penalty credentials by punching his shot,while Costa Rica scored all five.
Costa Rica with the win has now become the third CONCACAF nation to ever qualify for the last eight of the World Cup.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia