At Port Elizabeth:
The Netherlands came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to defeat Brazil 2-1. Felipe Melo's own goal at 53 minutes* tied the game for the Dutch, then Wesley Sneijer scored the game winner at 68 minutes (that's him celebrating as photographed by Laurence Griffiths). The Samba Boys unraveled in the second half. Felipe Melo capped off a miserable second half by receiving a straight red card in the 73rd minute after stomping on Arjen Robben's leg. This marked the first time ever in a World Cup match that the Brazilians lost the game after leading at halftime (Robinho having scored at 10 minutes). For the Clockwork Orange, it will be their first semifinal appearance since 1998.
UPDATE: FIFA has awarded the goal scored at 53 minutes to Wesley Sneijder.
At Johannesburg:
After 120 minutes with Ghana and Uruguay deadlocked at 1-1 (Sulley Muntari for the Black Stars at 45 minutes and Diego Forlan for the Uruguayans at 55 minutes), and after the Ghanians' Asamoah Gyan missed what would have been a historic game-winning penalty kick at the tail end of overtime, the South American country---with Diego Forlan, Mauricio Victorino, Andres Scotti, and Sebastian Abreu converting, and goalkeeper Fernando Muslera saving PKs from John Mensah and Dominic Adiyiah---won the penalty-kick shootout 4-2 to reach the semifinal round for the first time since 1970 and denied Ghana the opportunity to become the first African country to reach the semifinals. After Sebastian Abreu's game-winning kick, happy Uruguayan players celebrate, as captured in this snapshot by Michael Steele.
The Netherlands will take on Uruguay in a semifinal matchup on Tuesday of next week at Cape Town, with the winner advancing to the July 11 final.
Both photos from Getty Images
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