Welcome to Sports Mole's live news coverage from day 24 of the World Cup.
We will be bringing you all of the latest news and gossip from the tournament, as well as reaction to last night's victories for Germany and hosts Brazil in the quarter-finals.
The action continues today with Argentina, Belgium, Costa Rica and the Netherlands all battling it out to reach the last four.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live news coverage from the World Cup in Brazil. Last night provided yet more thrilling action as Germany and hosts Brazil squeezed their way through to the semi-finals. The tournament continues this evening with Argentina taking on Belgium and Costa Rica meeting the Netherlands in the last of the quarter-final encounters. However, let's start things off by taking a look at some of the headlines from overnight...
Neymar ruled out of World Cup with back injury
Joachim Low: 'Excellent players key to Germany victory over France'
Jose Pekerman: 'Colombia came to play wonderful World Cup'
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Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina has claimed that he and his teammates can be proud of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals following their defeat to Brazil. The Colombians were narrowly beaten by the hosts on Friday night as a 2-1 loss saw them exit the tournament.
More from the Colombia camp now with midfielder Juan Quintero revealing that he is "hurt" by the team's quarter-final defeat to Brazil.
Brazil defender David Luiz has described his delight after scoring a spectacular free kick during his side's win over Colombia in the World Cup quarter-finals. The 27-year-old found the net from 30 yards on Friday as the hosts made their way through to the last four with a 2-1 victory over their South-American rivals. If you haven't seen Luiz's goal yet, check out the video below:
Germany coach Joachim Low has heaped praise on Mats Hummels following the defender's winning goal during Friday's World Cup quarter-final win over France. Hummels's first-half header was the difference between the European heavyweights, with the Germans advancing through to the last four with a 1-0 victory.
While Low has described Hummels's performance against France as "sensational", the man himself has urged his Germany teammates to show plenty of passion during their semi-final clash with Brazil. The two footballing heavyweights go head to head in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday. What an encounter that promises to be.
Veteran France goalkeeper Mickael Landreau has had his say on the team's 1-0 defeat to Germany in the quarter-finals. Needless to say that he's frustrated by the loss, but he also believes that the result should be put into context.
With Argentina facing Belgium and Costa Rica taking on the Netherlands in the last of the quarter-finals clashes this evening, you can take a look at our previews for those encounters below:
Wesley Sneijder has warned his Netherlands teammates not to underestimate Costa Rica when they meet in the World Cup quarter-finals tonight. The Dutch head into the match having beaten Mexico in the last 16, while Costa Rica saw off Greece.
Lukas Podolski has claimed that Germany have a great chance of becoming the first European team to win the World Cup on South-American soil.
Belgium boss Marc Wilmots has revealed that forward Eden Hazard is determined to make his mark at the World Cup in his side's quarter-final clash with Argentina. The Chelsea man has been quiet in his first four games of the tournament, but Wilmots is fully aware of the talent that the 23-year-old possesses and feels that he is ready to make an impact in Brazil.
Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez has questioned the performance of the referee during his side's defeat to Brazil in the World Cup quarter-finals. The Colombians, who suffered a 2-1 loss on Friday night, had a number of decisions go against them in Fortaleza.
Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Thiago Silva's suspension could be more worrying for Brazil than Neymar's injury ahead of their World Cup semi-final against Germany. The Selecao's captain Silva picked up his second yellow card of the tournament on Friday during the team's quarter-final win over Colombia.
Lionel Messi has wished Neymar a quick recovery after the Brazil talisman was sidelined for the rest of the World Cup with a back injury. Messi, who plays with Neymar at Barcelona, wrote on his official Facebook page: "Neymar, I hope you recover very soon friend!"
That's all from me for today, but I'm pleased to say that Liam Apicella will be with you for the next three hours to keep you up to date with all of the latest news coming out of Brazil. Enjoy!
Thanks Jack and afternoon all. As Jack's final post shows, the headlines today have been dominated by the injury to Neymar, which has ruled him out of the World Cup. Surely that will have a massive impact on Brazil's chances of winning a sixth title.
Robbie Savage certainly believes that Neymar's absence is going to prove costly when it matters. The former Wales international has claimed that without Neymar AND captain Thiago Silva, the Brazilians are highly unlikely to be able to get beyond Germany in the semi-finals.
Of course, there are two more games tonight - including Holland, who take on Costa Rica for a place in the semi-finals. Louis van Gaal has a reputation as manager that likes to spring a surprise and reports in the Dutch media suggest that he is prepared to do it again. It's believed that attacker Memphis Depay will be deployed as a wing-back as a result of the reshuffle following Nigel de Jong's injury.
Sticking with the Dutch - let's have a little bit of fun shall we? Now, we all know that Clarence Seedorf was one of the most gifted midfielders to have played the game over the last 20 years or so. Well, it turns out that Clarence can also sing:
A bit more on Neymar and it comes from Brazilian skipper Thiago Silva. It seems that the whole of Brazil is in mourning, but Silva believes that Chelsea's Willian is more than capable of covering the talisman's absence. To find out what the centre-back had to say, click here.
More goodwill coming in for Neymar, this time from Brazilian legend Ronaldo:
Enough of Brazil for now because in a little under 90 minutes, their great rivals Argentina will do battle with Belgium for the right to advance through to the semi-finals. There is no team news just yet, but there are strong rumours that Manchester City centre-back Martin Demichelis, who has not played at the tournament yet, will come into the Argentine starting lineup. It shouldn't be too long until we have confirmation of that.
No news of Argentina just now, but the Belgium team has been released.
Belgium: Courtois; Alderweireld, Van Buyten, Kompany, Vertonghen; Witsel, Fellaini; De Bruyne, Mirallas, Hazard; Origi
And now the Argentina team news is also out. The earlier reports were correct because Demichelis is indeed playing. To find out who else has made the cut, click here.
Look away now Belgium fans:
Moving away from this encounter for just a few moments because a World Cup record-holder has announced his retirement. In the wake of the defeat to Brazil, Colombia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon has called time on his career at the age of 43. The shot stopper is the oldest player to have ever featured at the World Cup. England fans may remember him from back in 1998 when David Beckham curled a free kick beyond his reach in France.
While that statistic from earlier may not have been pleasant reading for those of a Belgium persuasion ahead of this encounter with Argentina, here is some reason for optimism courtesy of former Manchester United defender Danny Higginbotham:
Of course, you can keep yourself right up to date with events in Brasilia between Argentina and Belgium with Sports Mole's text updates. The teams are now out on the pitch and the national anthems are about to get underway.
And that is as far as I take you this afternoon. Next up will be Pascal Lemesre, who will be with you until 8pm, meaning that he will keep you updated with the third of the four quarter-finals that is just about to get underway, as well as all the other big news from Brazil. Over to you Pascal...
Thanks very much Liam. Right, they've just kicked off in Brasilia and you can follow all the action in detail ➟ here.
GOAL ARGENTINA! It didn't take them long! Just seven and a half minutes had been played when Gonzalo Higuain gorgeously fired home a bouncing ball from 15 yards into the corner. Fabulous finish from the Napoli man.
Although Argentina are winning, there's some really sad news about an Argentine-Spanish great just emerging. Mirror journalist Ed Malyon tweets: "Alfredo di Stefano in intensive care after suffering a heart attack, according to Spain's radio Cope."
Higuain rightly gets plenty of adulation from his teammates after that pinpoint finish. Superb instinct.
A blow for Argentina as Angel Di Maria is forced off through injury just after the half-hour mark in Brasilia. The Real Madrid man will be gutted after winning the last match in the 118th minute. So much emphasis on Messi now.
HALF-TIME in Brasilia! Higuain's strike separates the two teams.
For more on Di Maria's injury, read our quick story here.
Second half underway in Brasilia. Can the Belgians get back in it? Romelu Lukaku is being readied to come on soon.
Here's more on the news about Di Stefano's reported heart attack in Madrid. He's believed to be in serious condition. One of Real Madrid's greatest ever players, he scored 216 league goals in 282 appearances for Los Blancos.
In Brasilia, Higuain has just come within inches of his and Argentina's second goal. The Napoli man nutmegged Vincent Kompany and then curled a shot that grazed the crossbar on its way over.
This was Argentina coach Jose Sabella's reaction to Higuain's miss - hilarious!
Argentina might be winning now, but all six of Belgium's goals at this World Cup have come after the 69-minute mark. Still plenty of hope for the Red Devils.
With just over five minutes remaining in Brasilia, it remains 1-0 to Argentina. Belgium starting to pile on the pressure.
ALL OVER, ARGENTINA ARE THROUGH!
With Argentina confirmed as the third semi-finalist, who will they up against in Sao Paulo on Wednesday? Will it be Netherlands or Costa Rica? If you haven't already, read our preview of this evening's game here.
The Sports Mole Sofa has also been previewing all the games and you can see what we thought in this YouTube video:
We've gone too long without mentioning Neymar's tournament-ending broken back. Brazil great Pele has now compared the injury to the one that he suffered in 1962, when Brazil still went on to win the World Cup without him.
TEAM NEWS! The two lineups for this evening's game have just been released.
Netherlands: Cillessen; De Vrij, Vlaar, Martins Indi, Blind; Sneijder, Wijnaldum, Kuyt, Depay, Robben; Van Persie
Costa Rica: Navas; Diaz, Gonzalez, Acosta, Umana, Gamboa; Borges, Tejeda, Bolanos, Ruiz; Campbell
Anyway, time for me to say goodbye and hand over to Simon Sinclair, who will guide you through the last quarter-final and more this evening. Over to you, Si...
Cheers Pascal. Evening all, we're all ready for the second quarter-final game of the day at the World Cup as the Netherlands face off against Costa Rica. You can follow all the action as it happens with Matt Law by clicking this link.
France striker Karim Benzema has revealed that he is disappointed to have exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage at the hands of Germany.
Brazil legend Ronaldo believes that Colombia defender Juan Camilo Zuniga intended to hurt Neymar in the challenge that ruled the forward out of the World Cup.
Ronaldo said: "We can't blame anyone for the violent tackle of a player that didn't target the ball, but rather wanted to harm another footballer."
Neymar has revealed that his World Cup dream is not over yet as he has backed his teammates to win the tournament without him.
As the teams arrive on the pitch for tonight's quarter-final clash between the Netherlands and Costa Rica, a reminder that you can follow all the action with Sports Mole's minute-by-minute commentary here.
Belgium boss Marc Wilmots has slammed his side's conquerors Argentina following their defeat in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, as he has branded Alejandro Sabella's men as "ordinary".
It's still goalless in the quarter-final clash between the Netherlands and Costa Rica. There have been no meaningful opportunities to speak of yet, but there has been a lot of possession for Louis van Gaal's men.
Argentina boss Alejandro Sabella has praised the performance of Lionel Messi in his side's quarter-final win over Belgium despite the 27-year-old's failure to get on the scoresheet.
Sabella told reporters: "I felt he played a wonderful match. it's not only scoring goals, it's having possession, taking out three opponents and every move he makes is a sign of hope for us and endangers our opponents."
HALF TIME: It's goalless at the break in Salvador between the Netherlands and Costa Rica. Louis van Gaal's side have had the better chances in the game, but haven't been able to find a way past Keylor Navas in the Costa Rica goal.
The teams are back out for the second half of the quarter-final showdown in Salvador. Catch all the action in our live commentary, which can be found here.
France boss Didier Deschamps has admitted that the reason he left Olivier Giroud out of his starting XI to face Germany in favour of Antoine Griezmann was due to tactical reasons.
UPDATE: Still no goals in Salvador in the clash between the Netherlands and Costa Rica. Jorge Luis Pinto's side have looked more dangerous in the second half, but the Oranje are still controlling possession. Still all to play for in the final 20 minutes and by the looks of things we could be in store for extra time.
Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain has admitted that he wasn't worried about not scoring in his side's first four games at the World Cup as he ended his drought against Belgium to guide his team into the semi-finals in Brazil.
EXTRA TIME: We're heading for extra time in Salvador as the Netherlands somehow failed to find a winner in stoppage time as Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben were all denied either by the woodwork or Keylor Navas in the Costa Rica goal.
That was far too exciting for me and I'm now off to lie down. I'll leave you in the capable hands of Alex Meyers to take you through the action in extra time and possibly beyond.
Hello everyone! Yes i'll be here for the next three hours bringing you the latest news and the latest from the quarter-final clash that is well into extra time!
Although Argentina booked their place in the semi-final of the World Cup earlier today, it has been reported that Angel Di Maria's tournament is over. He has apparently torn a muscle in his right thigh, which will keep him out of action for over a week.
We are now into the second half of extra time, with the score between the Netherlands and Costa Rica still goalless. Huntelaar is now on for the Dutch, and the striker will be high in confidence after his match-winning goal against Mexico last time out.
FULL-TIME! After an entertaining period of extra time, the match has finished goalless and we will now have a penalty shootout! The Netherlands have even brought on Tim Krul specifically for the occasion! Remember that you can follow our live commentary of the match for every crucial moment!
GOAL! Costa Rica take a 1-0 lead in the shootout as Borges slots a low effort past Krul!
GOAL! The Netherlands have leveled it up with Van Persie rolling the ball into the corner of the net.
SAVE! That's why Krul is on the pitch! He dives low to his right to push Ruiz's penalty around the post!
GOAL! The Netherlands go ahead in the shootout as Robben fires an effort into the top corner.
GOAL! It's level again as Gonzalez slots his effort past Krul.
GOAL! Sneijder keeps up the perfect record for the Netherlands with a cool penalty into the corner.
GOAL! Costa Rica are still in this as Bolanos fires a great effort into the net to make it 3-3.
GOAL! It's four out of four for the Dutch, with Kuyt slotting the ball into the corner of the net. If Costa Rica miss their next penalty, they are out!
MISS! It's all over! Krul makes the save from Umana's penalty and the Netherlands go through to the semi-finals!
You can read our match report of the events that took place in what was a thrilling match in Salvador. The Netherlands will now face Argentina in a mouth-watering clash next week for a place in the World Cup final!
Argentina manager Alejandro Sabella has said that his side were excellent during their win over Belgium. An early goal by Gonzalo Higuain was enough to book a spot in the last four of the tournament for the first time in 24 years.
Belgium captain Vincent Kompany has said that the experience his side have gained at this World Cup will help them at the next tournament in Russia. The Red Devils were seen as the dark horses in Brazil by many, but they were knocked out by Argentina in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard has said that his country can learn from their defeat by Argentina in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
"We were taught a useful lesson, and it'll be up to us to learn from it. We've got a young, highly talented team. We need to look to the future. We've already done really well to get this far," FIFA.com quotes him as saying.
Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal has said that Jasper Cillessen will start their World Cup semi-final against Argentina, despite Tim Krul's penalty shootout heroics against Costa Rica. Van Gaal also admitted that he did not tell Cillessen that he would be substituted in the final minute of extra time.
Costa Rica manager Jorge Luis Pinto has said that his side can be proud of their achievements after being knocked out of the World Cup by the Netherlands.
"We leave the tournament unbeaten and with our heads held high. It can happen to make mistakes in a shootout and we did all we could against great players."
Tim Krul has said that making two saves for the Netherlands in their penalty-shootout victory against Costa Rica was like a dream come true. The Newcastle United keeper came on at the end of extra time and saved from Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana to send his country through to the semi-finals.
Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas has said that he feels empty following his country's defeat against the Netherlands.
"We're left with an empty feeling," he told reporters. "Lots of things go through your head. I think we all did a great job.
"It's hard to lose, no one likes it. But this team can leave with their heads held high. We didn't lose a single game. We lost on penalties. It's hard but that's life."
Well, that's all we've got time for this evening. Thank you for joining us for what has been a thrilling day of football in Brazil. We are now down to the semi-final stage, with two heavyweight clashes between Brazil and Germany and Argentina and the Netherlands to come next week. Don't forget that we will have live coverage of both of those games and all of the latest news from Brazil throughout the week. Until next time, goodbye!
