Maquinaria Lorenzana S.A.

Costa Rica went ahead through a Bryan Ruiz goal before going down to 10 men. Greece equalised after 91 minutes. Navas was decisive in the penalty shoot-out.

Keylor Navas is already a hero, a World Cup legend and more than that in Costa Rica after his decisive intervention in the penalty shoot-out to decide a crazy game in which the Levante keeper once again was the star of the show, in spite of not having been able to avoid extra-time. Playing with one less for more than 50 minutes, extra-time included, Costa Rica resisted the Greek attacks, anchored to the faith of their superman in their goal. And he did the rest in the penalty shoot-out between two exhausted sides, stopping the only penalty not to be scored.

The three million inhabitants of Costa Rica were left beaming with the happiness that a trivial affair such as football can bring – football, the most vital of life’s less important things. “Pura vida, mae”, literally “Pure Life Dude”, is the phrase the Costa Ricans use in recognition of the pleasure of living in a paradise, a country which can now begin to dream with some seriousness of the joy of conquering the World Cup, having reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their history. Without the brilliance of the group stage in which they ripped up the predictions of most, leaving England and Italy out, they suffered terribly conceding a late equaliser and just holding on for the penalty shoot out.

The game started as expected with the ball the odd one out on the pitch, putting in doubt what Fernando Santos had said before the game. “In football there is always one team that attacks and one that defends”, said the Portuguese coach of Greece. But what happens if both want to defend? Greece, for a few minutes, nearly fell into the trap of trying to bring the ball forward while passing. But the loss of the ball in dangerous areas allowed Costa Rica to get into the Greek box quickly and venomously. The domination by the Americas of this World Cup may have something to do with the climate, but also, to a certain extent it may also have to do with the extra energy some players can bring, having had a shorter, less demanding season. Costa Rica defend with a bunch of footballers who play in the equivalent of second or third division leagues, and attack with two who are worthy of the European elite: one who looks like he’ll be a star, Joel Campbell (what a repertoire of touches, flicks and runs) and another who hasn’t quite made it, but whose quality can’t be disputed, Bryan Ruiz. A great bit of play from the former allowed Gamboa to shoot (too angled) and a magnificent pass from the second gave Bolaños a great chance, but he also couldn’t hit the target.

The shocks sent Greece scurrying back to their standard plan. Long balls. They improved defensively and in attack, producing the best chance of the first half, a Salpingidis shot, which Keylor Navas saved, adding another million or so more to his buy-out clause, should Kiko Catalán, Levante president, manage to renew his deal.

The Salpingidis chance, and a few other, tamer, opportunities made Greece the points winner of the first half. But just after the restart Bryan Ruiz made that title meaningless, with the only thing that counts in football. A goal. He hit it so badly from in front of the goal that it left keeper Karnezis completely wrong footed. A statue watching the ball’s unexpected course into the back of the net. And now Santos’ understanding of the game was spot on – one side attacking, the other defending and waiting to hit on the counter. And with the game set-up like that Costa Rica could have increased their lead, had Bolaños taken advantage of two close chances or Australian referee Benjamin Williams seen a clear Torosidis hand in his own box.

But Duarte, who had already seen a yellow card in the first half, made things easier for Greece with a second yellow that was as needless as it was deserved. Santos sent out Mitroglou, Gekas and Katsouranis, the last two survivors of the greatest moment in Greek footballing history, the European Championships of 2004. Costa Rica resisted with Keylor producing several marvellous stops, until he was beaten by a Sokratis missile in 91 minutes.

Exhausted and suffering Costa Rica put their trust in Keylor Navas for extra-time, who responded, above all with a wonder stop from Mitroglou with just seconds to go before the penalties. In the shoot-out, despite the fact the Greeks performed nearly perfectly, it was Navas who was the hero against Gekas.