On the first day of the Quarter-Finals, the South American dominance in the World Cup so far had begun to fade.
In the first match of the day, The Netherlands took on Brazil.
Holland ran into trouble before the match, when their best defender Joris Mathijsen picked up an injury during pre-game warm-ups, and the elder but experienced Andre Ooijer took his spot in the starting lineup.
Brazil began the game with plenty of energy and attacking spirit, and scored an early goal that ended up being waved off for offsides. But it was a sign of things to come.
In the 10th minute, Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo found a streaking Robinho right down the middle of the field, and Robinho's one time shot from the top of the box went low and past the hand of the Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenberg and into the net to give Brazil an early 1-0 lead. Andre Ooijer was at fault for not marking Robinho and leaving him open.
Later, Brazil missed a glorious opportunity to take their lead to 2-0, when Juan blasted a shot from 10 yards away that just went over the bar.
In the 30th minute, Robinho displayed some incredible ball control when he dribbled by three Dutch defenders, before passing the ball to Luis Fabiano while falling down. Luis Fabiano gave a one-touch pass to Kaka, who curled a strike towards the far post.
But Stekelenberg made a tremoundous full out save and kept his squad in the game and still down just one goal.
The score stayed 1-0 to Brazil at halftime, but the Netherlands knew they had 45 minutes to turn things around.
Just eight minutes into the second half, the Oranje drew a free kick on the right side of the field about 30 yards from goal. The free kick was taken short, before the ball went to the feet of playmaker Wesley Sneijder.
Sneijder chipped the ball with his left foot into the box, and due to confusion with the Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar and Felipe Melo, as well as the ball taking a small deflection from Melo, the ball fell into the back of the net to make the scoreline 1-1.
Despite conceding, the South Americans continued to attack and press forward, looking for a second.
However, against the run of play, in the 68th minute, Sneijder scored once more off of a corner kick to give Netherlands the surprise 2-1 lead.
The corner kick was taken low, and a great flick header from Dirk Kuyt sent the ball right to Sneijder, who just deflected it into the net off his head.
After this, the Brazilians resolve failed them, and they began to lose their patience and discipline. Case in point was in the 73rd minute, when Felipe Melo stamped on the leg of Dutch striker Arjen Robben after he was fouled, which earned him a straight red card.
Brazil became desperate, and began to play more and more sloppy, but the strong and stubborn Dutch defense held up until full time, and they can breathe a sigh of relief as they move on to the semi-finals.
"At the break all we said to each other was that we needed to improve and put their defense under more pressure," said the man of the match Wesley Sneijder. "We gave it our all for 45 minutes and we were rewarded. For the goal I just had to get my head on the ball - it was a great feeling."
In the second match of the day, Uruguay took on Ghana, the last African team left in the World Cup.
The game was a match of one goalkeeper battling the other. Richard Kingson of Ghana and Fernando Muslera of Uruguay both had phenomenal games, and the game from getting out of hand for their squads for the whole 120 minutes.
Within the first half alone, Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan of Uruguay missed chances that just went wide of the post, as did two chances from Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan.
Finally, at the end of the first half, a long range strike from Ghana midfielder Sully Muntari flew into the back of the net, and gave Ghana a deserved 1-0 lead.
The strike needed just one bounce before zooming into the net, and it caught Muslera off guard, and he was unable to get back into position and make the save.
In the 55th minute, Uruguay struck back with a wonderful goal from Forlan. Off a free kick just outside the box on the left side, Forlan hit a bullet of a shot that went into the net well before Kingson could get over to block it. It was one of the goals of the tournament, and tied the game at 1.
The game stayed tied after 90 minutes, and into extra time the game went. It was here where the drama ensued.
At the end of extra time, in injury time, Ghana had pushed everyone forward. And after a goalmouth scramble in the box, and after one goal-line save, Luis Suarez of Uruguay blocked a header that looked to be going in with his arm, punching the ball away. The play earned him a straight red card, and gave Ghana a penalty kick on what would be the last play of the game before penalty kicks.
Asamoah Gyan stepped up to take the shot, and shoot he did, but it went off the crossbar and out of play, keeping the game tied at 1 and making Suarez's sacrifice not in vain.
Into penalty kicks the game went, and both teams hit their first two penalty kicks, including Gyan who had just missed the would be game winner.
For the third kick, Andres Scotti of Uruguay slotted home, but the Uruguayan keeper Muslera saved Ghana's third shot from Stephen Appiah, the captain of the Black Stars.
Into the fourth round of penalty kicks, Uruguay had a chance to take the 4-2 lead, but defender Maxi Pereira skied his penalty shot, and gave Ghana a slim hope. But they missed in their shot as well, with Muslera making another big save.
In the final kick, Sebastian Abreu (also known as El Loco) scored with a slow chip right down the middle, and sent his team and nation into jubilation, as they had somehow won the game when their lives in the World Cup was at one point hanging by a thread.
"People who believe in destiny might explain it otherwise," said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez. "But I don't have an explanation for what happened today. It really was a hard match, we didn't play well but we survived very difficult circumstances.
With the loss, Africa has no teams left in the World Cup, and the hope of an African nation winning the prize will have to wait.
The Netherlands will take on Uruguay on July 6 in Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, at 2:30PM ET on ESPN.
