Netherlands are through to the World Cup Semi Finals after beating Costa Rica 4-3 on penalties.

Substitute Tim Krul was the hero as he made two saves in the shootout from Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana.

The shootout followed a lively 0-0, which saw Keylor Navas come out as the star man after making a string of fine saves.

A quiet first half saw Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas tested on a number of occasions.

First Robin Van Persie and Wesley Sneijder tested the Levante keeper when they forced him into a double save on 22 minutes.

Then PSV's Memphis Depay tested the keeper from close range.

Finally Sneijder tried to get the better of Navas with a freekick but he was equal to it.

In the second half Costa Rica came more into the game. They had a penalty shout on the hour mark when Bruno Martins Indi appeared to barge into Joel Campbell.

They then had their first chance on goal when Giancarlo Gonazalez could only head over from a Christian Bolanos freekick.

Netherlands then came back with a chance of their own as Ron Vlaar's header sailed over from a Wesley Sneijder freekick.

On 79 minutes Costa Rica lost one of their key players in Christian Gamboa, replacing him was David Myrie.

Wesley Sneijder almost got the better of Keylor Navas with a freekick on 82 minutes, but his curling effort could only hit the post.

Navas was again defying logic when he denied Robin Van Persie from point blank.

Minutes later Van Persie nearly had revenge, however he could not connect with Wesley Sneijder's cross.

Netherlands wasted one final chance to win in the 90 minutes when Robin Van Persie's strike from a corner was blocked onto the bar by Yeltsin Tejeda.

In extra time, Navas was again up to scratch as he saved impressively from a Ron Vlaar header.

Costa Rica were shouting for penalty moments later when Ron Vlaar looked to have caught Marcos Urena, however no decision was forthcoming from the referee.

The second half of extra time was played in relentless fashion despite the heat.

Marcos Urena forced the first real save from Jasper Cillessen minutes from the end as Costa Rica went for the victory.

However they couldn't force another chance and it was Wesley Sneijder who almost had the final say in open play as his long range strike struck the crossbar.

Louis Van Gaal made one final bold decision as he looked to win the penalty shootout by replacing Jasper Cillessen with Tim Krul just before time ran out.

His decision proved to be the correct one as Tim Krul saved from Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana to win the shootout 4-3 in the Netherlands favour.

The Dutch will now Argentina in Sao Paulo in a repeat of the 1978 World Cup Final.