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This is how Costa Rica will arrive at the 2022 Qatar World Cup

2022-11-03T21:05:52.808Z


Costa Rica, the fourth classified from Concacaf to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will play in the E team along with Spain, Germany and Japan, in what is perhaps the group of death of the World Cup. This is how the 'Tico' team arrives in Qatar. 


Costa Rica, again in a difficult group in the World Cup 0:50

(CNN Spanish) --

In June 2022, in a game in which everything was played for everything, the Costa Rican soccer team was going for a victory against a New Zealand team that was looking, like the 'Ticos', to qualify to Qatar 2022 through the playoffs.

And they did.

Joel Campbell, Rayados de Monterrey player and idol of the Costa Rican team, scored the qualifying goal for Costa Rica's sixth World Cup after 3 minutes of play.

Now, Costa Rica, the fourth classified from Concacaf to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will play in Group E along with Spain, Germany and Japan, in what is perhaps the group of death of the World Cup.

It was the first Latin American team to present its squad for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

The team led by the Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez has in Keylor Navas a benchmark and a leader but arrives at the World Cup with low goalscoring production in the qualifiers.

Navas thus celebrated the victory from the court.

(Mohammed Farag/Getty Images)

How does Costa Rica get to the World Cup?

The generational change that the team of Colombian coach Luis Fernando Suárez is making is key for this team that arrives in Qatar.

Although they have older players like Joel Campbell (30 years old) and the star of the national team, Keylor Navas (35 years old, now in doubt due to a lower back injury), Suárez is betting on newer players who —along with with the guidance of the experienced – gave the 'Ticos' a boost in the knockout stage.

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"Suárez, who was a coach who was hired practically before the tie started... he came and began to give young players an opportunity," sports commentator Mónica Malavassi, who was captain of the national team, told CNN en Español. Costa Rican women's soccer.

"Almost when the tie was almost lost, after the first round, he began to give in and believe in these young players, to make a replacement, (with) players who came with great enthusiasm and with a base of players who were in (the World Cup) Brazil with experience... but coach Suarez did begin to give opportunities to very young boys, to new faces and the face of the national team changed".

Joel Campbell, right winger from Costa Rica.

(Credit: Joe Allison/Getty Images)

On the other hand, Costa Rica arrives as a little offensive team.

But Melissa Alvarado, sports commentator for Teletica Deportes, says the team grew towards the end of the qualifiers, boding well for what the performance in Qatar could be.

"Costa Rica was criticized a lot for the fact that they conceded a lot of goals, but at the end of the tie, even in an almost perfect second round, Costa Rica improved a lot in defense and I think part of the important aspects that were given so that Costa Rica could qualify for the playoffs," said Alvarado.

For now, the challenge for the Ticos is to get through the group stage, a task that will not be easy as they are in the 'group of death' with Japan, Germany and Spain and although they are not favorites, they hope to repeat the performance in Brazil 2014, when the team was nicknamed "matagigantes".

For Alvarado, a challenge is coming for the national team as a whole and also an individual challenge for the players who want to show themselves and those who want to make a leap to international soccer.

"It's a nice challenge and it's a good scenario for players to grow, because against Costa Rica-type teams you always believe," Alvarado said.

Costa Rica, pure life in the World Cup since Italy 90 2:32

Players to watch from the team

These are five outstanding players from Costa Rica

  • Keylor Navas, goalkeeper

  • Anthony Contreras, center forward

  • Juan Pablo Vargas, central defender

  • Joel Campbell, far right

  • Brandon Aguilera, attacking midfielder

Costa Rican figures

The team led by the Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez has in Keylor Navas a benchmark and a leader, but arrives at the World Cup with low goalscoring production in the qualifiers.

The men's team is ranked 31st in the general FIFA ranking and is below some teams that did not qualify for the World Cup such as Chile, Peru and Colombia.

The team, which plays in Concacaf, has a market value of 18.15 billion euros, according to TransferMrkt.

The average age of its players is 27.7 years and its official venue is the National Stadium of Costa Rica, with a capacity of 35,000 spectators.

The Costa Rican team won the last remaining quota for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which starts in November.

Ticos overjoyed on the pitch at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Doha on June 14, 2022. (Joe Allison/Getty Images)MOREHIDE

His previous participations in the World Cups

It is his sixth qualification for a World Cup, third in a row.

Costa Rica participated for the first time in a World Cup in Italy 1990, in which they qualified for the round of 16 and were eliminated by Czechoslovakia.

They then qualified for South Korea and Japan 2002. They were eliminated in the group stage, finishing third behind Brazil and Turkey.

In Germany 2006 he was last, without points, in the group in which Germany and Ecuador qualified.

He returned to the World Cup in Brazil 2014, his best participation so far.

He was the leader in a very difficult group: Uruguay was second and Italy and England were eliminated.

In the round of 16 they beat Greece on penalties and went out in the quarterfinals after losing on penalties against the Netherlands.

In Russia 2018, Costa Rica was again in the group with Brazil, and was last with one point behind the Brazilians, Switzerland and Serbia.

Now he's looking to improve on that historic turnout after eight years.

Navas and Campbell, as well as Bryan Ruiz, Óscar Duarte and Celso Borges, remain from the legendary team of 2014.

The games before the World Cup

South Korea 2-2 Costa Rica (September 23, friendly

Costa Rica 1-0 New Zealand (June 14, friendly)

Costa Rica 2-0 Martinique (June 5, Concacaf Nations League)

WorldCosta Rica National Team

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-11-03

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