Salvador's impressive Fonte Nova ­stadium nestles between the hills of the historic Old Town and the city's main highway.

It rises from out of nowhere, whichever direction you approach it from, and is perhaps the most striking of the World Cup.

I approached from the highway and was dropped at the foot of a sloping residential street that had all of the foot traffic you would expect for a World Cup quarterfinal, but no evidence of the ground it was being played in or where might be.

It turned out to be a matter of meters.

Step up the slope, round the corner, down a winding, steep alleyway and there it was.

Throngs of fans swarmed every ­entrance and it suddenly became a scene deserving of the last eight of the biggest soccer tournament on earth.

Much has deservedly been written of  Dutch fans and they were in their ­glorious orange pomp, but the Costa ­Ricans were giving as good as they got in noise, color and number.

There seemed to be more Costa Rica shirts than at the previous round in ­Recife so kit manufacturer Lotto can't have struggled to fulfill Brazilian orders despite the unanticipated run on Tico team jerseys.

The heaving mass huddled at the ground's South Gate did not have to wait long to get in despite initial appearances being to the contrary.

With less than an hour before ­kickoff in the game to decide who would face Argentina on Wednesday, Salvador was running the smoothest queuing, ­security and ticket checking process I've seen at this World Cup.

I decided to forego my allocated seat in the middle of the stand behind the goal because the chances were that it would just mean having to ask someone to move out of it anyway and headed to Block 450 at the top of the South Stand.

This, was the best decision of the game until Louis van Gaal introduced Tim Krul to proceedings over two hours later.

The top of the South Stand, unlike the other stands where the seating goes all the way to the stadium roof, has an open concourse.

There are four rows of seats but ­behind them is an open area that looks out onto the rolling favelas that make up much of the city.

It is uniquely Brazilian and the ­finest setting for a soccer match I have ­experienced.

The fact that the bar was but feet away was an added bonus. Hundreds clearly had the same idea and stood two, three and four-deep behind the seats throughout the match.

The vantage point was enviable but given that there were empty seats dotted around the stadium, anyone could have chosen to sit where they wanted.

A couple of corners of Orange and rowdy blocks of Costa Rica ­supporters were the only packed sections, which was a shame for a match that meant so much.

Considering that tickets were being offered for sale all over the city, usually at face value, and still the game was not full highlights FIFA's failure.

Of those who turned up, the vast ­majority were Brazilians and that meant that we got to enjoy the two most annoying aspects of this World Cup almost ­immediately.

The Dutch players were booed almost from kick off for the crime of spreading the play across their back line and then there was what worryingly felt like a non-stop Mexican wave.

Neither have a place in the stadium and the booing is particularly rich when you think back on how the hosts have played so far.

Everyone soon settled down, ­engrossed in what became one of the best nil-nils of all time.

Those who had bought tickets certainly­ got their ­money's worth.