Belgium and Costa Rica will be seeking World Cup quarter-finals upsets today as they clash against Argentina and The Netherlands respectively.
It is Belgium who will first attempt this at the National Stadium in Brasilia against the Lionel Messi-led two times world champions.
Belgium, the European underdogs who last got to this stage of the World Cup 28 years ago, have displayed abundant talent at this year’s tournament so far, having won all three group matches, just as their Argentine opponents. The Belgians knocked out a resilient USA 2-1 in a blistering extra time after a scoreless 90 minutes.
Eden Hazard, Kevin Mirallas, Romelu Lukaku, Marouane Fellaini and Kevin De Bruyne are among those running the Belgian tide at the tournament which may prove too fast for the Argentines today.
However, in South America, Argentina are a powerful force and the support following them is so huge that that alone can be reason for a foreign team to stumble at the sheer noise of the fans that will be rooting for them this afternoon in Brasilia.
But it is in Salvador later in the evening that another astonishing package at the World Cup, Costa Rica, will open their arsenals against favourites The Netherlands. The sensational manner Costa Rica topped a group comprising such elites as Uruguay, Italy and England, has been so fascinating that they have become the talk of the tournament.
Fears are that they might put the Orange of The Netherlands to the sword should they find the same rhythm that put paid the rising of Greece in their round of 16 match. The Orange could be sweet and prove deadly in the end if Captain Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben, among others, find the form that separated them from the gamesome Mexico in their one-sixteenth match.
