June 29 – CONCACAF vs UEFA. Mexico are growing in stature, the Dutch are growing in renewed promise. Costa Rica have grown up while Greece have the look of having grown old, and sage in the process. All up for grabs in the battle for places in the quarter finals.
Netherlands v Mexico
Mexico are turning out to be one of the surprise teams of the tournament, not because they are not a big football nation, because they are and always have been, but because under Miguel Hererra they have demonstrated an ability to adapt style and method of play according to who they are facing.
Like against Brazil, Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa will likely be a key man against the Dutch fie power of Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben. He has only conceded one goal so far.
Expect the Mexicans to have shots. Against Brazil they confined their shooting predominantly from long distance but in the 3-1 win over Croatia they showed they can mix it up in the box and their tight and fast passing game totally outplayed the Europeans at the end.
Jose Juan Vasquez is suspended for Mexico and will likely be replaced by Carlos Salcido. Oribe Peralta and Giovani dos Santos have looked potent up front and will likely keep Javier Hernandez bench warming.
The Dutch are without Feyenord defender Bruno Martins Indi but van Persie is back after suspension.
Head to Head games
26/06/60 Mexico v Netherlands 3-1 (International)
19/04/61 Netherlands v Mexico 1-2 (International)
24/02/98 Netherlands v Mexico 3-2 (International)
25/06/98 Netherlands v Mexico 2-2 (World Cup)
01/06/06 Netherlands v Mexico 2-1 (International)
26/05/10 Netherlands v Mexico 2-1 (International)
FIFA Ranking (June 5th 2014)
Netherlands: Rank: 15 Points: 981
Mexico: Rank: 20 Points: 882
World Cup 2014 Qualifying
Netherlands
First in UEFA Group D with 28 points (P10 W9 D1 L0 GF34 GA5)
Mexico
Fourth in CONCACAF Group with 11 points (P10 W2 D5 L3 GF7 GA9)
Play-off v New Zealand (OFC Group): Mexico 5 – 1 New Zealand, New Zealand 2 – 4 Mexico
Netherlands v Mexico stats
Out of 9 CONCACAF teams to reach the second round since 1990, only one has gone through to the quarter-finals – the USA in 2002.
Mexico beat Bulgaria in 1986 to go through to the quarter-finals – where they were beaten by eventual finalists West Germany.
Mexico have now reached the knockout stage in their last 7 World Cup appearances, but have been knocked out at the second round stage in all 5 editions since 1994.
Netherlands have won 9 of their last 10 World Cup matches, (Unfortunately for Holland the loss was the 2010 final against Spain.)
Arjen Robben has scored 8 goals in his last 9 appearances (89%) and Robin van Persie has scored 21 goals in his last 25 appearances (84%) for the Netherlands.
If he plays, Dirk Kuyt will become the 7th Dutch player to win 100 caps.
Costa Rica v Greece
Costa Rica, perhaps disrespectfully, were considered to be the whipping boys in Group D pre-tournament. They waltzed through their group and now face a Greek team who battled through theirs scoring just two goals in the last of their games.
Expect a strong Greek defence that starts in midfield led by old warhorses Giorgios Karagounis and Kostas Katsouranis were part of their 2004 European Championship triumph.
Costa Rica have one of the new stars of the tournament in Junior Diaz, while young forward Joel Campbell will be well know by the Greeks having played for Olympiakos last season.
FIFA Ranking (June 5th 2014)
Costa Rica: Rank: 28 Points: 762
Greece: Rank: 12 Points: 1064
World Cup 2014 Qualifying
Costa Rica
Second in CONCACAF Group with 18 points (P10 W5 D3 L2 GF13 GA7)
Greece
Second in UEFA Group G with 25 points (P10 W8 D1 L1 GF12 GA4)
Play-off v Romania: Greece 3 – 1 Romania, Romania 1 – 1 Greece
Costa Rica v Greece stats
This will be the first ever match between Costa Rica and Greece.
This is the second time Costa Rica have reached the knockout stages of the World Cup (in 1990 they were knocked out at this stage by Czechoslovakia) – for Greece it is their first.
Costa Rica have only let in one goal so far in this World Cup (a penalty) whilst Greece have only scored 2 (and only 4 in World Cup history).
Greece have won just 2 out of their 9 World Cup games (v Nigeria and Ivory Coast).
Greece are the only nation who made it through to the last 16 with a negative goal difference (-2).