In the first quarter final, Holland and Wesley Sneijder used their heads whilst all about them in blue were losing theirs. Relatively comfortable at 1-0, Brazil were rocked by a sloppy equaliser and left completely reeling by the set-piece second shortly after. The Brazilian response was frustrated, ill-tempered and ultimately insufficient - giving a stark reminder that no matter how much a team may be cruising and in control - 1 goal is only 1 goal. If Brazil had found a second - and they had chances - it would most likely have been the semi finals for them.
Instead they return home to lick their wounds for four years. As hosts in 2014, and having fallen at the last eight twice running, they will be under incredible pressure but also a team to fear.
The second match saw possibly the greatest imbalance in terms of neutral support in the history of the competition. Find someone who was cheering for Uruguay last night, and brother you've found yourself a Uruguayan. The media coverage across the globe gave almost 100% focus to the Ghanaian team who carried with them not only the support of every African, but also almost every football fan the world over.
South Korea in 2002 enjoyed a great deal of support but also some favourable refereeing which perhaps tainted this. Ghana had reached the quarter finals through hard work, guts and good football - even without their talismanic leader and by far best player, Michael Essien.
The game was tense, evenly matched and both sides had chances to win it. The only real chance that will be remembered for ever more however was literally the last kick of the ball, after 120 minutes.
Poor, poor Asamoah Gyan. The classic case of a player who uses the shop window of the World Cup to raise his own profile and turn heads the world over, the penalty gave him the chance to not only take his country to the semi finals for the first time ever for an African side; but also to draw level with Villa and Higuain on 4 goals.
In rattling the bar, surely the watching world knew that the game was up for Ghana. To go into the penalty shoot-out with such a reprieve, the momentum that was with Uruguay was always likely to carry them through. Full credit must go to Gyan for the incredible guts to step up and take - and score - the first penalty; however it counted for nothing in the end.
The villain of the piece, Luis Suarez, should be seen as a hero in Uruguay.
He has been labelled a cheat, but in the circumstances he had to do what he did. There was no doubt about the handball, clearly it was intentional and he knew exactly what he was doing - but he also knew why he was doing it. To sacrifice himself, missing the semi final and perhaps ending his own tournament is a personal price to pay but for the greater good of his country surviving, it was completely worth it. Any player in that situation should do exactly what Suarez did, and to label him a cheat is harsh. Perhaps he should cancel that trip to Accra though.
At the time of writing, Germany lead Argentina 1-0 at half time after a pulsating, end-to-end battle which still hangs very much in the balance and has been compelling viewing. Now that the tournament is reaching the business end, the games are fewer but the drama just keeps on coming...
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