COSTA Rica came very close to upsetting the trend. But even that game — and the penalty shootout — followed the script.

Netherlands’ 4-3 win on penalties in the last quarter-final against the Ticos in Salvador on Saturday meant all four favourites advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

The Dutch face Argentina in the last four with the Albiceleste advancing with victory over Belgium earlier on Saturday in Brasilia.

Hosts Brazil face Germany in the other semi-final with both teams having progressed on Friday.

It meant three of the top five World Cup favourites — Brazil, Argentina and Germany — all made the last-four.

The Dutch hadn’t been in the running ahead of the tournament but their 5-1 victory over defending champions Spain saw them come back into the reckoning and they too ensured a spot in the semis.

But they came mighty close to missing out.

Having bossed possession, they failed to break through a solid Costa Rican defence with the game ending in a goalless draw at the end of extra-time.

Louis Van Gaal’s decision to send on penalty expert Tim Krul on for the shootout earned wide praise as the Newcastle United keeper made two stunning saves but former Dutch great Ruud Gullit believes the side have to add cutting edge if they are to get past Argentina.

“This is the football that the purists in the Netherlands want to play,” he wrote on his twitter page during the game. “The result is a lot of possession and no chances.”

Midfielder Wesley Sneijder, though, came close to breaking the deadlock twice near the end but his long-range efforts hit the bar.

That was as close the Dutch, beaten finalists in 1974, 1978 and 2010, came to breaching the Costa Rican backline despite having the likes of Arjen Robben and Robin Van Persie.

Their next opponents also feature a stellar attacking cast with Lionel Messi leading the way but have been criticized by Diego Maradona — the man who led them to their second and last World Cup title in 1986.

“My team were a lot more offensive than this one,” he told Spanish newspaper AS ahead of Argentina’s quarter-final against Belgium referring to the team he coached in 2010.

“It looks bleak for us if I’m honest. I wish the team played differently, that it exploited all the ability its players have.

“We haven’t seen the best from them neither tactically nor individually and this worries me.”

Maradona’s worries would probably have increased after Argentina eked out a 1-0 win against Belgium courtesy Gonzalo Higuain’s early strike to reach the semis for the first time in 24 years.

The clash against the Netherlands in Sao Paulo on Wednesday will be a repeat of the 1978 final, which Argentina won 3-1, and the dramatic 1998 quarter-final in which the Dutch triumphed thanks to a spectacular Dennis Bergkamp winner.

But Argentina will be probably without star winger Angel Di Maria for the rest of the tournament after he suffered a thigh injury on Saturday.

But Argentina still have Messi. Unlike Brazil, who have lost their main man — Neymar.

Messi’s Barcelona team-mate fractured a vertebra during Brazil’s 2-1 win over Colombia on Friday and without Neymar, Brazil feel like underdogs against Germany in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday.

“If the team wins, it will be even more heroic. If it loses, there is a convincing excuse,” wrote Tostao, a star on Brazil 1970 World Cup championship team in an article in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper on Saturday.

Neymar was Brazil’s poster-boy for this World Cup and with four goals in the tournament was seen as the man likely to take them to World Cup glory for a record sixth time.

And now they will have to do without him against a German side which has become more ‘result-oriented’.

Former captain Michael Ballack had been critical of the performances by Germany’s attacking trio of Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos and Mario Goetze saying they “haven’t been giving their best”.

But on Saturday, another former captain Lothar Matthaus — who led Germany to their third and last triumph in 1990 — said he believes the Die Mannschaft are now better at grinding out results.

“We’ve been spoilt over recent years playing football of a very high quality but we weren’t able to win dirty matches,” Matthaus said at a press conference at the Maracana referring to Germany’s 2-0 defeat to Brazil in the 2002 World Cup final and three subsequent semi-final exits.

“The current side knows how to win dirty matches because in football, you sometimes need to win dirty. This side is more result-oriented.”

That showed in a hard-fought 1-0 win over France in the quarter-finals on Friday and although Germany, like the other semi-finalists haven’t been at their efficient best, both semi-finals seem very exciting.

All four are world-beaters, have great histories on their side and the two winners clash here at the Maracana Stadium on July 13.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2014