d at all," Schild said. "Im in a good shape, I have no

FORTALEZA, Brazil -- The Dutch were worried about the oppressive heat at Arena Castelao, and they left it with the stifling hot conditions to thank for a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. An inspired tactical change during the second of two official stoppages led to a late goal from Netherlands forward Wesley Sneijder and an injury-time penalty from Klaas Jan Huntelaar in a dramatic 2-1 victory over Mexico on Sunday. "I moved to Plan B at the cooling break," said Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, soon to be the manager at Manchester United. "That is a good way to take advantage of those breaks." Despite scoring 10 goals in three group matches, the Dutch again started the match with a defensive 5-3-2 system. Van Gaal made the switch to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation in the second half and tweaked it further when referee Pedro Proenca stopped the match in the 76th minute to allow players to rehydrate. That helped turn the match around and extend Mexicos second-round curse to six straight World Cups. "Unbelievable," said Arjen Robben, the Netherlands forward that earned the late penalty. "Five minutes from full time, we were out." Instead of the Dutch players, it was the Mexicans who wilted in the heat as they conceded twice as many goals in the final minutes of the match as they had in the entire group stage. "The humidity was against us, but we were fresher and fitter than the Mexicans," Van Gaal said. "Yes, we escaped. But we showed that we could create more chances with 4-3-3, and the players handled this shift very well." The Dutch will next face Costa Rica in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Salvador, and may have to play without midfielder Nigel de Jong, who was substituted in the ninth minute with a groin injury. Mexico coach Miguel Herrera, one of the most popular characters at the World Cup because of his emotive ways on the sidelines, blamed Proenca for the loss and accused Robben of diving under a challenge from Rafael Marquez to earn the penalty. "Today it was the man with the whistle who eliminated us from the World Cup," Herrera said. "If a referee invents a penalty, youre out of the World Cup. "I hope they have a look at what happened and that this gentleman goes home just like we are." Marquez said Robben admitted that it was a bad call, but added that the Dutchman thought he should have been awarded a spot kick for an earlier challenge. "I spoke with him after the match and he told me that it was not a penalty," Marquez said. "He said that the first foul was a penalty and that one was not called." Mexico has now advanced to the second round at the World Cup six straight times and not reached the quarterfinals. The last time the team made it that far was as host of the 1986 tournament. Giovani Dos Santos gave the Mexicans the lead in the 48th minute after a goalless first half, but Sneijder equalized with a hard shot in the 88th. It was the first time Sneijder, who scored five goals at the last World Cup in South Africa, has found the net in Brazil. Robben, who has already scored three goals for the Dutch at this years tournament, then earned the penalty in the fourth minute of injury time but he handed the ball to Huntelaar. "You dont know when your chance will come, but it was today, and so you grab it with both hands," said Huntelaar, who replaced captain Robin van Persie in the 76th minute. "And it was fantastic." For Mexico, goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was again the star player, pulling off two more great saves after playing a key role in holding Brazil to a 0-0 draw in Group A. But he couldnt block Sneijders shot and guessed wrong when diving in an attempt to stop Huntelaars penalty. "It isnt easy to go out this way, the way this match went," Ochoa said. "Its just very hard to deal with when victory escapes you this way." Miro Heiskanen Stars Jersey . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Tonight, Michigans Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ontario. Miro Heiskanen Jersey . So true. It is one thing to create a winning football team, and another to keep it winning. Each and every week it changes. The NFL creates a unique interest of not who is "the best", but much more who is "the best this week". http://www.thedallasstarshockey.com/dino-ciccarelli-hockey-jersey/ . Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national teams failure to win the World Cup at home. Mike Gartner Jersey . Louis Blues were workmanlike, methodical and -- most of all -- effective on Monday night. Jamie Benn Jersey . -- Manchester United thrilled a record crowd with a brilliant opening goal -- and even Cristiano Ronaldos unexpected entrance proved futile for Real Madrid.LEVI, Finland -- American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin easily won the World Cup slalom opener Saturday, beating reigning Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany by more than a second to send an immediate message to her rivals ahead of the Sochi Games. The 18-year-old slalom world champion led by half a second after the first run and raced seamlessly at the top of the hill in the second to extend her advantage, overcoming a mistake near the end to clock a combined time of 1 minute, 55.07 seconds. "Im really happy with how the day went and Im also really excited because it looks like there are some pretty fast girls in the back of the pack," Shiffrin said. "Im excited for the Olympics for sure but there are a couple of races between now and then, so hopefully I can just keep this going." Hoefl-Riesch, who was in a tie for third place after the first run, skied nearly flawlessly in the second but still finished 1.06 seconds behind in second place. Last years overall World Cup champion Tina Maze of Slovenia, who struggled in the giant slalom opener in Soelden last month, was third, 1.61 back. Shiffrin emerged as a major star in the discipline last season by winning both the World Cup slalom title and the world championship race, making her one of the major medal favourites for the Sochi Olympics. Her dominant display on Saturday did little to lower expectations on the teenager -- although Shiffrin thinks theres still plenty of room for improvement. "Every day there is something you can do better," Shiffrin said. "Im going to go back and study my skiing from today and study all the other girls to see who is doing what well and try to get better." Another 18-year-old also made a name for herself, as Christina Ager of Austria finished fourth in her first career World Cup start. Ager started with bib No. 53 but was fifth after the first run -- in part because of favourable winds -- and then missed the podium by just 0.07 seconds. Hoefl-Riesch has won three World Cup slaloms in Levi and made the podium for the seventh time here. "It was a great day for me. I had a good feeling in training already,"; she said.dddddddddddd"Its always really special for me here because of my first win many years ago and because of my many good results here." Maze said she was happy to get back to skiing fast after the disappointing result in Soelden, where she struggled with the high expectations after her dominance last season. "I got a lot of pressure in Soelden race, it was the start of the season so it was not easy to handle all of this pressure so I felt really empty," Maze said. "But at the end I realized its nothing important, the only thing important is to ski fast." Marlies Schild of Austria, the slalom specialist who injured her knee in December 2012, returned for the first time since recovering fully but was already well behind Shiffrin in the first round by the time she missed a gate and skied out. Still, Schild was just happy to finally be able to ski without feeling any effects of the injury. "Of course I wanted to race a second run but yeah, its not so bad at all," Schild said. "Im in a good shape, I have no pain anymore and thats very important for me and I just have to wait, I think, to get a good feeling." Four-time former overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn skipped the Levi meet and will make her debut in the speed events in Beaver Creek, Colorado, after recovering from a right knee injury sustained in a crash in February. "She is back and shes strong," Shiffrin said of her teammate. "Im impressed with how strong she is. ... I dont think anybody should count her out thats for sure." For Shiffrin, the Olympic gold medal is clearly main goal for this season, although she received another memorable prize on Saturday. In a first for this year, organizers presented the winner with a live reindeer from the local Lapland region. Shiffrin named the 6-month-old reindeer Rudolf, although she wont be allowed to take him home with her. "I scared him off a bit when I jumped off the podium to meet him but I think we will be getting along," Shiffrin said. "I hope that when he gets older and trained I can go for a ride on a sledge with him." ' ' '