Giovani dos Santos
Giovani dos Santos celebrates his goal against the Netherlands. Reuters

Giovani dos Santos scored a stunning goal to break the deadlock in Mexico’s World Cup Round of 16 tie with the Netherlands. Receiving the ball off a poor defensive header from Ron Vlaar, Dos Santos chested it down and unleashed an unstoppable left-footed drive from 25 yards past Netherlands goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and into the side of the Dutch net.

The goal from the Villarreal star to put Mexico 1-0 up came just three minutes into the second half after came after an opening 45 minutes in which the blazing heat in Fortaleza was all too apparent. In a match played at a slow tempo, and interrupted by the first official cooling break, the Netherlands had most of the possession, but Mexico had the better chances.

If Mexico win it would be the first time that they have made it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup since 1986. The Netherlands are attempting to go one better than their runners-up place four years ago in South Africa.

Mexico