Doha, November 03 (QNA) – The Costa Rican national team’s achievement of qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Brazil 2014 World Cup eight years ago is still stuck in the memory, despite falling into a difficult group with two European teams in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Just like it faced Italy and England at Brazil World Cup, Costa Rica will face Germany and Spain in Group E of the World Cup in Qatar, in addition to Japan. Costa Rica is participating in the World Cup for the 6th time in its history and the 3rd in a row.
The Los Ticos will start its journey at the World Cup in Qatar, facing Spain at Al-Thumama stadium on Nov. 23, and then meet with Japan at Ahmed bin Ali stadium on the 27th of the same month, before concluding its journey in the group stage against Germany at Al-Bayt stadium on Dec. 1.
The Costa Rican federation has chosen the Dusit Salwa hotel located in the center of Doha as the team’s residence during the tournament and will train at the Al Ahli Sports Club stadium.
Costa Rica qualified for the Qatar World Cup after finishing 4th in the South American qualifiers, to enter the world Cup playoff, in which they beat New Zealand, winner of the Oceania qualifiers,1-0 in the match held at Ahmed bin Ali stadium.
The Costa Rican team is counting on the brilliance of a goalkeeper who has gone out of sight, and on the performance of a striker who hopes to regain his brilliance and return to play in the strongest European leagues to get through the Group E, which is one of the strongest groups of the tournament.
Keylor Navas, the French Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper, lives a state of football uncertainty in light of his departure from the Parisian team, but he might still be able to lead his country’s national team at the Qatar World Cup.
The 35-year-old is competing at the World Cup for the 3rd time in a row. He is known for his reflexes, prompting some to nickname him the “Falcon.” He helped Real Madrid win three consecutive Champions League titles. Costa Rica may have little chance of success at the Qatar World Cup, but they know that their goalkeeper is still among the best in the world of football, both with the national team and at the European club level.
Costa Rica’s Black Panther Joel Campbell, characterized by his amazing scoring abilities, scored the winning goal for his national team against New Zealand in the playoff match. He will be one of the most important weapons the team has at the World Cup. He currently plays in Mexico.
In addition to Navas and Campbell, Costa Rica coach Luis Fernando Suarez is counting on veteran Bryan Ruiz (36 years old), center player Anthony Contreras, midfielder Celso Borges and alongside Francisco Calvo, as well as defender Oscar Duarte, who recently transferred to the Saudi Al Wehda FC.
The Costa Rican national team, whose federation was founded in 1921, has participated in the World Cup 5 times before, but they qualified from the group stage for the first time in Italy in 1990, and then achieved the feat of qualifying for the quarterfinals in Brazil in 2014.
Costa Rica’s best performance came during the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, after reaching the quarterfinals, having taken the lead in the group that also included Uruguay, Italy and England, before defeating Greece on penalties in the round of sixteen, and then losing on penalties to the Netherlands.
Costa Rica has played 18 matches at the World Cup finals, winning in five, drawing in five, losing in 8, scoring 19 goals, and conceding 28 goals.
One of the Costa Rica’s most notable achievement is winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup (North, Central America and the Caribbean) 10 times, the last of which was in 1989.
The Costa Rican national team has also participated by invitation in the Copa America five times, its most notable achievement was qualifying for the quarterfinals of the 2001 and 2004 editions.
A group of outstanding players have emerged in Costa Rican football, led by Rolando Fonseca, the historical scorer of the national team with 47 goals, and Walter Centeno, the most representative player of the national team with 137 matches, as well as Ronald Gomez and Paulo Wanchope, both of whom scored 3 goals at the World Cup finals.
Christian Bolanos and Michael Umana imposed their presence on the Costa Rican national team as the most participating players in the World Cup finals with 7 matches, as well as the current PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who won the Champions League title with Real Madrid 3 times.
(QNA)