David Luiz wonder goal sends hosts into semi-final clash with Germany
It was an electric atmosphere from the start as the noise was deafening and it seemed to intimidate Colombia and inspire Brazil.
But Colombia came back and gave themselves a lifeline after 78 minutes.
Rodriguez slipped in a lovely pass to Carlos Bacca and the Colombian substitute was upended in the box by Brazil keeper Julio Cesar.
Rodriguez was booked when he gave away a foul on Hulk which set up Luiz's 69th minute free kick. Luiz then hit a pile driver into the top corner.
There was a little late flurry from Colombia after their wonderkid James Rodriguez netted a late penalty but the truth was that they had no answer to Brazil's bite.
That was surely that. There is simply no stopping Brazil.
It was the momentum as much as the performance which carried the hosts into the semi finals after an unforgettable night for Brazil.
Silva picked up a booking which will rule him out of the semi final while Neymar was in tears when he was stretchered off after taking a kick in the back by Colombia's Juan Zuniga.
You can only feel sorry for their next opponents Germany - who they face in next Tuesday's semi final in Belo Horizonte - because they will need to beat a whole nation to knock out Luiz Felipe Scolari's Brazil.
Mats Hummels' header enough to book a World Cup semi-final place
The Germans may not have won the World Cup since 1990 but this time they look as if they could go all the way.
They are peaking just at the right moment and many of their players are experienced and in their prime. This feels like their time.
Germany took the first chance they created. Kroos swung a free kick in at pace in the 12th minute and Hummels beat Varane to the ball and glanced it past Lloris off the underside of the bar.
They might have gone further ahead midway through the half when Debuchy appeared to tug Klose's shirt as he closed in on goal but the referee waved away claims for a penalty.
Germany began to play some wonderful football. Their passing was crisp and accurate, their movement fluid and confident. Every ball seemed to be inch-perfect. There were no frills, just an economy that made the team tick.
Majestic Messi works his magic yet again
The idea never caught on but then the Premier League never had Messi. You would watch him on PlayerCam all day long.
Marouane Fellaini was almost as immobile as one of those statuesque soldiers when Messi pirouetted around him and fed Angel Di Maria, whose deflected off Jan Vertonghen and fell nicely for Higuain to thump a half-volley into the bottom corner.
It was Higuain's first goal of the tournament but it was the emphatic, clinical work of a dead-eyed marksman.
Messi might have sealed it in injury-time when he ran clean through only for Thibaut Courtois to deny him.
Sub keeper Krul is Dutch saviour in shootout
In Robben, Louis Van Gaal has one of the players who has electrified, illuminated the World Cup.
Last night, he was kicked black and blue as the Costa Ricans adopted Brazil's ''rotation fouling'' approach.
And this was, unquestionably, a game Holland should have signed, sealed and delivered in the opening half, defied by the heroic Navas.
The Costa Ricans, in comparison, were struggling to make many inroads, although the aerial power of strapping midfielder Celso Borges was causing nervous Dutch palpitations.
However, the longer it went on, the more Costa Rica started to believe.
Holland beginning to doubt themselves, the Costa Ricans wondering if they were on the brink of something almost infeasible.
The post kept them alive when Navas was for once beaten by Sneijder's terrific free-kick up and over the wall, before he saved Van Persie's angled drive.
Krul has only saved two of the 20 spot-kicks he has faced in the Premier League but he threw himself to his left to deny Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana.
With Holland's old guard of Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt all holding their nerve, it sent the Dutch through to a semi-final show-down with Argentina in Sao Paulo.
Rightly so, too, with Robben incredible and the Dutch thwarted time and again by the sheer brilliance of Costa Rican keeper Keylor Navas and the help of the woodwork.
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