Brazil advanced to the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Saturday after holding their nerve to down Chile on penalties. Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar was the hero, saving twice in the shoot-out before Chile defender Gonzalo Jara`s final spot-kick crashed off the woodwork to hand the World Cup hosts a 3-2 win. The shoot-out drama unfolded after a pulsating game at Belo Horizonte`s Mineirao Stadium after 120 minutes of normal and extra-time ended with the South American rivals locked at 1-1. Brazil, roared on by their partisan support, started strongly, taking the lead through a goal credited to David Luiz after 18 minutes. Neymar swung a corner in from the left and the Paris Saint-Germain defender rose to turn the ball into the net although replays showed it was helped on by Chile defender Gonzalo Jara.
But Chile came roaring back and equalised after 32 minutes, Barcelona star Alexis Sanchez punishing slack play in the penalty area to slot past Julio Cesar. Brazil had a goal controversially disallowed in the second half, when striker Hulk was adjudged to have used his arm to control a long ball before shooting past Claudio Bravo. Brazil`s players protested furiously but English referee Howard Webb remained unmoved. A thrilling finale to extra-time almost saw Chile snatch a sensational victory when striker Mauricio Pinilla saw a shot crash back off the woodwork in the dying seconds with Cesar beaten.
Later Saturday, a Uruguay team fuelled by a sense of injustice face Colombia at the Maracana Stadium in the day`s other last 16 clash. Uruguay have adopted a siege mentality after Luis Suarez was kicked out of the World Cup on Thursday for biting, insisting the star striker is innocent. Coach Oscar Tabarez angrily hit out at Suarez`s treatment in his eve-of-match press conference on Friday, insisting the player had been made a "scapegoat." And Tabarez warned the controversy had left his players determined to extend their stay at the World Cup. "We are hurt, but with our outstanding force and more than ever tomorrow (Saturday), we will do our utmost," Tabarez declared. As Uruguay prepared for Saturday`s battle, further details of the disciplinary hearing which led to Suarez`s worldwide four-month ban from football emerged. According to a copy of the FIFA disciplinary committee judgement seen by AFP, Suarez denied biting or attempting to bite Italy`s Giorgio Chiellini. He claimed he had lost his balance before the incident and stumbled into Chiellini`s shoulder. "I lost my balance and ended up falling on my opponent (Chiellini)," Suarez said in his submission to the panel. "At that moment, my face hit the player (Chiellini) leaving a small bruise and sharp pain in the teeth." "In no case what has been described as a bite or attempting to bite happened." FIFA disciplinary chiefs remained unimpressed, however, finding that Suarez had bitten Chiellini "deliberately, intentionally and without provocation." The panel also noted in its judgement Suarez had not "any repentance, remorse, or acknowledgement" of wrongdoing.
Costa Rica made history by reaching their first World Cup quarter-final at Greece’s expense, though it was the way they did it that will live long in the memory, surviving half an hour of extra-time with 10 men before going on to prosper in the penalty shootout. When Sokratis Papastathopoulos equalised in the 91st minute it appeared Costa Rica were going to suffer the same fate as their Concacaf neighbours, Mexico. Greece’s late goal took the game into extra-time and, after losing Óscar Duarte to a second yellow card midway through the second half, Costa Rica looked to have little chance of survival. Yet somehow they did, even managing a few enterprising moments of their own through José Miguel Cubero and Randall Brenes. The Greeks were scandalously wasteful of some huge overlaps and promising positions in the second period of extra-time and Kostas Mitroglou saw a shot saved right at the end when he appeared more likely to score. Thus reprieved, Costa Rica completed a perfect set of penalties, scoring all five, with Michael Umaña hitting the winning shot after Theo Gekas saw his effort, Greece’s fourth, saved by Keylor Navas. The goalkeeper, without whom Costa Rica might not have seen extra-time, let alone penalties, dived to his right but beat away Gekas’s shot with his left hand. It was a remarkable conclusion to a dramatic evening. Few World Cup victories can have been achieved against such odds. Costa Rica advance to play Holland in Salvador on Saturday, assuming they have any energy left. While not quite as draining as the conditions in Fortaleza for Holland-Mexico, which kicked off four hours earlier in the heat of the afternoon, it was still a sultry evening at the Pernambuco Arena. The pace of the game was predictably slow, with both sides playing conservatively at first, though of course Greece always play conservatively. Invited to come forward Costa Rica gradually felt their way into the match, moving the ball around neatly and proving capable of turning past defenders, though when Cristian Gamboa had an early sight of goal he put his effort well wide. Greece’s only goal attempt by the mid-point of the first half had been a Papastathopoulos header from a corner that missed by a distance and, though Giorgos Karagounis produced a shot on target just before the half-hour it was a hopeful effort from distance and an easy save for Navas. Their only attacking tactic appeared to be long balls towards Giorgos Samaras, which was reasonable when they were reaching the striker but questionable when he stopped running for them. Costa Rica came up with their share of overhit passes too in an uneventful and unexciting first half and it was necessary to keep reminding oneself that one of these teams had knocked out Ivory Coast while the other had inflicted unexpected defeats on Uruguay and Italy. When something notable finally happened, eight minutes before the interval, Costa Rica were indebted to their goalkeeper for a reaction save to keep out a goalbound effort from Dimitris Salpingidis. José Holebas had opened up Costa Rica with a great cross from the left wing and when Salpingidis nipped ahead of his marker to meet it at the far post a goal seemed certain, yet Navas stuck out a leg and the ball rolled off his shin for a corner. The impression at the interval was that we were in for penalties and a long night, which was how it turned out, just not in the way anyone expected. Greece came close to scoring again after Lazaros Christdoulopoulos won a free-kick at the start of the second half. Holebas took it and Samaras rose unchallenged for a header, only to direct the ball straight into Navas’s arms. Costa Rica were not looking as invincible as they had in the group stage and were beginning to look even fairly ordinary. Yet Greece are pretty ordinary, too, and when they look back at the 52nd-minute goal that handed their opponents the initiative they will kick themselves for some statuesque defending. Christian Bolaños simply rolled a pass along the edge of the penalty area where Ruiz was allowed time to meet it with his left foot. What the shot lacked in speed or power it made up for in accuracy. A static Papastathopoulous watched it slide by in slow motion and by the time Orestis Karnezis realised he needed to get across his goal he had left it too late and the ball was trickling over the line. They all count, but Ruiz might now hold some sort of record for the slowest goal of the tournament. Costa Rica might have had a penalty on their next attack and the Australian referee booked Esteban Granados on the substitutes’ bench for grumbling about the non-award, before the script took another turn with a second booking for Duarte. The defender had been shown yellow in the first half for a foul on Christodoulopoulos and, when he brought down Holebas in front of Ben Williams, the official brought out a second. That left Costa Rica just over 20 minutes to play out against 10 men. One side strengthened its defence, the other looked to beef up its attack. Campbell found himself alone beyond the half way line. Greece’s best chance of an equaliser seemed to have gone when Christodoulupoulos found Mitroglou on the six- yard line two minutes from the end but the Fulham player could not accept the opportunity and from his poor first touch the ball ended up in the goalkeeper’s arms. Navas was booked shortly after that, a little fussily, for taking his time over a goal-kick, before Papastathopoulos provided the day’s second last-minute drama with an equaliser in the 91st minute. Gekas saw a shot saved by Navas but the goalkeeper could only parry and Papastathopoulos pounced. There was ime for Greece to come again and Navas, arching backwards, made a fine save from Mitroglou’s header in the dying seconds to take the game into extra-time and its scarcely credible conclusion. 
Mexico boss Miguel Herrera had a very different view of events as he lambasted Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca for pointing to the spot in the fourth minute of stoppage time. "The determinaning factor was the man with the whistle. He put us of the World Cup," he said. "Although the first goal was down to our mistake, we had the chance to reconsider during the break before extra time, but at the end when the referee invents a penalty you go out of the World Cup. "At the very least they can look at this and this referee ought to be going home like us." The Netherlands were disrupted by an early injury to Nigel de Jong as he hobbled off to be replaced by Bruno Martins Indi. Mexico`s Hector Herrera then had the clearest opening of the first half as he collected Oribe Peralta`s pass on the edge of the area and cut inside before dragging a right-foot shot inches wide. Both sides were handed the chance to cool off for three minutes at the half-hour mark for the first time at a World Cup due to the searing temperatures. Cillessen made a fine stop to prevent dos Santos opening the scoring with a low effort. However, the Netherlands were left aggrieved just a minute before the break when Robben appeared to have been clipped by Hector Moreno inside the area. Mexico got off to a flying start in the second-half as Dos Santos held off a challenge from Daley Blind to thump home his first international goal in a competitive match for two years from 25 yards. Peralta nearly made it 2-0 eight minutes later with a curling effort that Cillessen did well to claim at the first attempt. Moments later it was Guillermo Ochoa -- hero of Mexico`s 0-0 draw with Brazil -- who made an incredible stop to prevent Stefan de Vrij levelling as he turned the defender`s volley onto the post from point-blank range. Sneijder then saw a deflected effort fly inches past as the Netherlands went in search of an equaliser. Ochoa came to his side`s rescue again 17 minutes from time when Robben escaped the clutches of Marquez, but saw his low effort turned behind by the Mexican stopper. Dutch boss Louis van Gaal then surprisingly replaced van Persie with Huntelaar. However, his decision proved inspired as firstly Huntelaar turned Robben`s corner in the direction of the lurking Sneijder to power home from the edge of the box on. And after Robben was adjudged to have been clipped by Marquez in stoppage time, the Schalke striker coolly stroked home the penalty to eliminate Mexico at the last 16 stage for a sixth consecutive World Cup.
James Rodriguez scored a brace as Colombia beat Uruguay 2-0 at the Maracana on Saturday to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time, where they will face Brazil. Monaco star Rodriguez moved top of the World Cup scoring charts on five goals as he showed why many of Europe`s biggest clubs are looking to sign him. His first effort was a contender for goal of the tournament as he took the ball down on his chest with his back to goal before swivelling and hitting a dipping volley in off the bar. His second was a simple tap in after Juan Cuadrado headed Pablo Armero`s deep cross back into the danger zone. The build up to the game had been dominated by the fall-out from Luis Suarez`s worldwide ban for biting Italy`s Giorgio Chiellini. Even though he was back home in Uruguay, his team laid out his kit in the changing rooms at the Maracana. But Uruguay dearly missed his talismanic presence as they were dominated by their South American rivals. Rodriguez was the star of the show with a sublime opener on 28 minutes that might just pip Australia`s Tim Cahill to goal of the tournament. And he was in the right place at the right time to convert Cuadrado`s clever header five minutes into the second period. Colombia will next play Brazil in Fortaleza on Friday in the last eight.