Quarter Finals Review: We're almost there!

We're down to the last four. In the two coming days, we will finally know who will play the big final on Sunday evening. But let's first take a look back at what happened in the quarter finals. As usual on this stage, drama and tension were the key words.

Friday 6 July:

France and Uruguay opened the quarter finals on Friday at 16 o'clock. A major blow for Uruguay was the absence of their leading scorer Edinson Cavani, who got injured in the game against Portugal. The pressure to score goals felt completely on the shoulders of Luis Suarez. France on the other hand could count on their strongest side and were slightly favorites. In a game that didn't turned out to become a World Cup classic, it was France who won after goals from Varane and Griezmann. The latter got serious help form goalkeeper Muslera, who let the shot of the French striker slip through his hands. Errors from goalkeepers have been a strange trend on this World Cup. France will take it anyday and are in the semi-finals without really been tested. When they fell behind against Argentina in the round of 16, they had to give pedal to the medal for 10 minutes which resulted in 3 goals. Uruguay's offensive line was beheaded without Cavani and they didn't manage to trouble Lloris. The performances from France have been minimalist, but effective and that's what counts in the end.

The French could watch relaxed to the next game later on the day to see who would become their opponent in the semi-finals. That would be the winner of Brazil-Belgium. A game with high expectations that did not disappoint. After a difficult start Belgium- who luckily escaped when Thiago Silva deflected a corner against the post- took the lead by an own-goal from Fernandinho. The advantage put Belgium in the luxury position to play the cherished counter attack, for who we have the perfect players but almost never get the chance too. Belgium showed in the first half that they are deadly when given space. De Bruyne rounded off an almost perfect first half- there were dangerous chances from Brazil as well- with a beautiful strike after on of those counters. 2-0 at the break, the euphoria was almost as big as the disbelief that it was actually happening! The second half was an agony for Belgium: the counter attacks stopped and Brazil became better and better with the substitutions of Douglas Costa, Roberto Firmino and Renato Augusto. When the latter scored, we were up for some tense 10 minutes. Coutinho missed his shot completely and Neymar's injury time strike was saved epicly by Thibaut Courtois, the real hero of the night. Belgium held on the 2-1 lead the title favorites were out. I won't deny there was a little bit of luck but the performance of our Devils was legendary. A first semi-final since 1986 and it's a derby against France. Difficult opponent, that goes without saying, but my belief is sky high now after Friday. If you can beat Brazil, you can beat anyone! There is still a long way towards the final (or more), but if doesn't happen now for Belgium, it never will.

Saturday 7 July:

The fixtures of Saturday sounded a lot less attractive then the two of the day before. It was visible in the match against Sweden and England. After a really unpalatable game, the English were that little bit more clever to qualify for the semi-final. They didn't even need Harry Kane to score this time: Harry Maguire and Dele Alli both scored a header. The English fans believe as much as we do that this is their year, but they will face a much tougher test in the semi-final than they faced in the past two rounds. After that brilliant first half against Tunisia, the quality of their football has dropped dramatically.

Croatia turned out to be the finish line for hosts and revelations Russia. But just like against Denmark, it wasn't without a serious battle. Russia took the lead after a fantastic goal from Cheryshev, the substitute that scored 4 goals in this tournament. The dreams of the home crowd were silenced when Kramaric equalized right before the break. The second was nervous and therefore low in quality. Perisic had the golden opportunity to shoot his country to the semi-finals but hit the post. Both teams were forced to extra time again. The extra times had so far been boring on this World Cup, but that was not the case this time. In fact, they might have been more exciting that the regular 90 minutes. Vida put Croatia in front after a scrimmage header. At this point, the fairy tale looked over for the Russians, but never deal in absolutes on this World Cup. A dumb hands ball from Pivaric resulted in a free-kick at the edge of the box. The Brazilian-born Mario Fernandes was in the right place to keep the dream alive. Penalties it was, the second time for both teams in this World Cup. Kovacic missed for Croatia, but missers from Smolov and Fernandes- how ironic- and a lucky penalty from Modric were the deathblow for Russia. The hosts however can leave the tournament with pride, because they did more than anyone would have expected. Croatia will face England in the semi-finals. This might again be a close call for Croatia. While Croatia has the better team, their play has only gone down since they destroyed Argentina. England seems to give a more secure impression, so Croatia will have to find that good form again to break them down.