Sao Paulo: Costa Rica has provided the story of the 2014 World Cup, which wasn’t in the script at the start. When the Central American country hammered Uruguay 3-1 in their opening match in Group D, many people thought it was a flash in the pan. But Costa Rica have proved that they are the real deal by upsetting Italy 1-0 on Friday. The Ticos have reached the second round of the World Cup as group toppers with a round to spare for the first time since 1990.
Move over Chile, Colombia and the Netherlands, Costa Rica have been the team of the tournament so far. The minnows have become the first team to survive from the group of death. It seems no one had told Costa Rica that their pool had three former champions for the first time in the history of the World Cup. England who are already out of the second round from the same group should be embarrassed.
That a star cast comprising Buffon, Di Rossi, Pirlo and Balotelli failed to score a goal at Recife says a lot about the Costa Rican defence. The combined value of Costa Rica’s squad wouldn’t be enough to buy Balotelli for a club. The surprise success of Costa Rica has reinforced the beauty of the World Cup and the sport itself because no one would come to the ground if paper strength prevailed in every match. The essence of sport lies in watching the unexpected unfold.
Branded as no hopers in the race to qualify for the next round, Costa Rica entered the competition with little expectations. But their team’s collective will has scored over the individual brilliance of players such as Cavani, Pirlo and Balotelli. It was only fair that the Ticos emerged on top against Italy after having been denied a cast-iron penalty a few minutes before the winning goal.
Failure had been Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto’s ally when he was at the helm of the country for the 2006 World Cup. He paid the price with his job. Four years later, he also came up short with his native Colombia. But he soldiered on to steer Costa Rica to football’s spiritual home behind the USA in the Concacaf region qualifiers. Their brilliant show in Brazil has given a boost to Central American countries who have often been accused of not performing well at the World Cup despite having three automatic places.
Pinto had been quoted as saying in FourFourTwo monthly before the World Cup that Costa Rica were far from thinking that they would be the laughing stock in Brazil. “The jerseys never play, otherwise football would be boring.” He went to add that he had a dream in which Costa Rica took on Colombia at the Maracana in the final.
