Today's epic quarterfinal matchups both went to penalties: one as Greek tragedy, one as opera. Brazil laid siege to the Croatian defense, with Neymar breaking through in extra time, only to fall victim to the fatal flaws in their own defense as Croatia equalized with four minutes to spare and took the match to their dreaded home turf: the penalty shootout, where the world's greatest teams have fallen at their gates; and a dull, mind-numbing Thanatos prevailed, killing joy and stopping the spectacular Eros of Brazil's joga bonito in its tracks. Mel mourns the revitalized Brazil we'd only just gotten to know and love, and Alan elucidates on how we got here, in the context of Croatia's long history of taking teams down at the penalty stage. We then turn to the high drama of Argentina vs. Netherlands, and the brilliance of Emi Martinez in a showdown full of echoes from their last matchup in 2014. Can Messi take it all the way to the final? Can Croatia be stopped? And what kind of epic World Cup action will we see tomorrow?
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