World Cup Preview - Group A - Costa Rica
Costa Rica:
Nickname: “The Ticos”
Coach: Brazilian-born Alexandre Guimaraes.
Game Schedule:
June 9 – Costa Rica vs. Germany (12 p.m. EST)
June 14 – Costa Rica vs. Ecuador (9 a.m.)
June 20 – Costa Rica vs. Poland (10 a.m.)
Prospects: Given the slack qualifying standards for Concacaf, Costa Rica has been a regular feature of recent World Cups, while European long-standing European sides such as Belgium have had a spottier qualifying record. FIFA bosses such as Sepp Blatter argue that this policy of inclusiveness encourages the growth of the game around the world and enhances the spectacle. Costa Rica’s performances in the past tournaments, however, have rarely risen beyond the level of also-rans. Their best return was in 1990 when their shock defeat of Scotland allowed them entry in the Round of Sixteen for the first and only time. Even in a fairly weak group, it’s hard to imagine Guimaries’s team repeating that feat this time. It was only the return of Guimaries, who led them to the 2002 tournament that pulled their qualification campaign out of the fire, after a disastrous opening three losses to Mexico, the U.S. and Trinidad and Tobago. Those losses spotlighted the obvious weaknesses of the side mostly made up of players who play regionally and a few prima donnas who swan in for the big matches.
Key Player: Veteran midfielder and captain Jafet Soto.
Youngster to watch: Striker Randall ‘Chiqui’ Brenes, who brightened up the 2005 Gold Cup.
Who Will Get the Goals: The ever-gangly former Premiership striker Paolo Wanchope, who became the all-time goalscoring champion for Costa Rica during qualifying.
Who Will Get the Cards: Grafter Mauricio Solis, three yellows and a red in qualifiers.
Funniest Name: Wardy Alfaro, the Ticos back-up goalie.
Prediction: The Ticos aging defense could leak a lot of goals allowing sides such as Germany to run up cricket scores in the Group Stage. No one but a true believer fancies Costa Rica to make it out of this group.
(Tomorrow I'll move onto Group B and or hopes for the England boys)
~Bob
posted by Anonymous @ 10:45 AM
1 Comments:
A poor team that has been over-dependant on talisman-like players for too long. I think flippin' Hernan Medford only retired just before Japanorea at what 48??? And Wanchope's so old that his age can only be approximated by counting the number of rings on his legs.
Can't stand these Central American teams. I wish they'd all lie down during the qualifiers so that we could get back to the big two and carnival time with T&T or Jamaica year after year. 4 is too many for a duff conference like CONCACAF.
Post a Comment
<< Home