It isn't that unfathomable Gould could end up on the field vs Costa Rica.
Just takes one of Sail or Marinovic to get Covid or an injury. .. Then the other to get an injury in the match... And Gould would be up.
What are the realistic odds of this happening? 1 in 10,000-100,000 scenario I would guess. So incredibly unlikely.
Incredibly unlikely but was it Comoros in African Nation Cup? In their knock out match verus Cameroon they had to use a defender in goal in some crazy scenes. I think they lost their 3 proper keepers to injury and Covid - that was I guess Omicron at it's peak around the world.
But with Covid around, the odds do shorten of a repat drama. But yeah on a plane in flies Woud.
And yeah re Tzanev what a effing eejit. It's a World Cup year.
He could now be in camp pushing Marinovic & Sail. Making a real overwhelming case for himself. Apparently he played pretty well for Dons in League One even though they got relegated. Woud meanwhile looks like he is no 3 keeper at his Japanese club, and certainly not starting for them in the J League anytime soon. He's barely played for about 6 months now.
But with the AWs squad announcement Hay was defending Woud to the hilt with zero mention of Tzanev. However if the Bulgarian Kiwi was in camp now, Hay would find it hard not to take him to the WC if the AWs make it. He always talks about guys needing to be playing regularly for their clubs. Tzanev is and Woud ain't. However remaining unvaccinated and not being in camp is definitely costing Tzanev a potential WC spot. Hay & Woud go way back, the natural thing for the gaffer to do, will be pick the Dutch Kiwi as his No 3.
And yes will be a night time kick off Qatar time. Day time Doha temps in June are in 35-42 degrees Celsius range! Expect a 'low' at kickoff of about 30 Celsius. It's why we have a Nov-Dec (rather than usual mid year) World Cup after all. https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/qatar
I presume the Playoff games will be in an airconditioned stadium? Again they should be being held somewhere like Wembley.
And see that Peru are to have a 2 week training camp (plus friendlies) in Spain. It maybe that them, AWs & Costa Rica all only fly into Qatar a day or 2 before June 13th/14th?? Difficult to have proper training camps in 40 degree daytime heat.
But Australia & UAE will have to get to Qatar earlier for their AFC playoff.
Play-off vs. Costa Rica at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, a suburb of the capital, Doha. Comprehensive info about the stadium: https://stadiumdb.com/news/2021/01/new_stadium_ahmed_bin_ali_stadium_the_desert_dune 40,740 capacity. If we qualify, we'll be back to the venue to play Japan in November. Thank God for this: "The venue uses environmentally friendly cooling (DC) technology via a central station with a cooling capacity of 16,000 tonnes. The station supplies chilled water to the stadium through the power station and from there to the large number of air treatment units deployed on the site to provide the required temperature for the stand and pitch area. At the same time, the building is 20% more energy-efficient compared to other ones of this type, and it also uses 20% less water." Temperatures in Doha June last year: https://world-weather.info/forecast/qatar/doha/june-2021/ Day-by-day maximum and night temps for first half of June 2021: 1/6 45, 32 2/6 46, 31 3/6 45, 30 4/6 47, 31 5/6 42, 31 6/6 39, 31 7/6 43, 34 8/6 44, 31 9/6 42, 31 10/6 41, 32 11/6 41, 32 12/6 40, 31 13/6 40, 30 14/6 43, 27 15/6 46, 27 So, as high as 47 degrees celcius during the day and 34 degrees at night. I hope that the air conditioning in the stadium works during the match at 9pm local time and also that training conditions in the week prior are tolerable! My question would be around training - at what time of day and in what sort of venue? Outdoor training in 47 degree heat wouldn't be feasible and they probably won't train at the match venue. So will the All Whites train indoors, at night etc.? Our friendly against Oman on June 10 NZT will be at Education City Stadium, another World cup venue which hosted the final and a semi-final of the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup. Capacity 45,350 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_City_Stadium
There must be 10 WC venues in Qatar, all with air conditioning?
AWs won't get to Qatar until after the Peru game (June 5th). Socceroos and UAE play June 7th. After that will just be 4 playoff teams in Qatar, to share themselves around 10 odd stadiums??
I guess they will have to actually train inside WC stadiums with the aircon on. It will be impossible to train in 40 plus degree heat, in an outside stadium. That's down right dangerous.
Be interesting how the Qataris deal with any attempts at teams spying on each other. I guess easier to police only accredited folks entering a secure WC stadium as opposed to a suburban training ground. Didn't the Peru team arrange to put up secure barriers all around Albany in 2017 or something?
And I guess most of training will be in the evenings and finish late. Playoff kick off is 9pm local time, if game ends up going to ET & pens will be close to a midnight finish.
So makes sense to get body clocks in tune by training say 6pm to 11pm or something. Physio/stretching time 11pm-midnight. The afternoon is strategy meetings & poring over Costa Rica videos.
At least they won't have Peruvian jets flying overhead, their charter flight being re routed through Chilean airspace, or Ticos supporters letting off fireworks outside their hotel at 5am plus other potential sneaky tricks.
Doesn't lack open self belief Sail. Almost un Kiwi! But good on him, and exactly what you want from your keeper. Look sadly at Woud who will have had his punctured last 18 months.
"I genuinely believe we can achieve amazing things."
Sail and Marinovic also split playing time evenly at the Oceania qualifiers, with Sail starting the first two matches before returning to the Phoenix and Marinovic starting the semifinal and final. They played in that order due to the awkward timing of the tournament around the window where players have to be released by their clubs, so nothing can be read into the fact that Marinovic featured in the knockout stages.
“In my mind at this stage, I'm leaning towards one player, but that said, it's going to come down to how they train and then how they play in the games,” Hay said.
“I'm so lucky, and the players themselves are so lucky, that we've got somebody who is as experienced as [goalkeeping coach and former Celtic player] Jonathan Gould in the setup.
“When you look at the level that he's operated at, not just as a player, but as a coach over multiple years, he provides some incredible insights into how the goalkeepers in particular are holding up in terms of their mental approach and their confidence levels, and he's a big person that I will lean on in terms of helping me make that decision.”
I know he's the third choice keeper and very unlikely to be involved, but I can't believe not much has been made of Gould's inclusion. The dude is his own go coach in the fifth tier of English football. He's not even young. Better to take someone with more potential along. But then of course his dad is part of the coaching staff.
I saw Hay quoted somewhere (but I now can't find it), basically saying in his view a 3rd keeper has to be a special kind of person as they're not going to play and they have to fill a role in a squad etc.
So he went for that over taking a legit 3rd choice keeper or promising youngster.
I know he's the third choice keeper and very unlikely to be involved, but I can't believe not much has been made of Gould's inclusion. The dude is his own go coach in the fifth tier of English football. He's not even young. Better to take someone with more potential along. But then of course his dad is part of the coaching staff.
I saw Hay quoted somewhere (but I now can't find it), basically saying in his view a 3rd keeper has to be a special kind of person as they're not going to play and they have to fill a role in a squad etc.
So he went for that over taking a legit 3rd choice keeper or promising youngster.
This is suspicious. Why is Gould any more special than Paulson for example? Surely get one of our young, and exciting, prospects in the mix to give them the experience and motivation to kick on. Being an 18 year old, with a lot of talent, in an environment like this would be invaluable.
It just smells a bit fishy. Maybe it was an agreement made by Hay and Gould (GK coach) when he took the job? It is speculation, but it's really strange to pick someone who has made 4 league appearances for a non-league club.
Paulsen is better off getting game time and training with his club. You need a keeper with experience to help train the others which is what Gould offers.
Paulsen is better off getting game time and training with his club. You need a keeper with experience to help train the others which is what Gould offers.
Yeah I don't think you take 18 yr old Paulsen. But Woud (at a new club in Japan), Tzanev (unvaccinated) & Crocombe (still in playoffs with Grimsby) have better credentials than Gould.
Gould is there by circumstance, but is hopefully unlikely to be even be on the bench. And if he is doing his GK coaching badges etc, and being a relative mature age 28 (younger than Marinovic, older than Sail) he's probably even giving the other two some advice/tips alongside his Dad maybe. Perhaps spending his time poring over videos of Navas looking for some weakness, or what Navas does in a pen shootout if it goes to that. I'm sure they are looking at everything. A collective effort
Woud - new club and recent howlers keep him away from the team Tznaznev's vax status - nuff said.coochiee
theprof
Paulsen is better off getting game time and training with his club. You need a keeper with experience to help train the others which is what Gould offers.
Yeah I don't think you take 18 yr old Paulsen. But Woud (at a new club in Japan), Tzanev (unvaccinated) & Crocombe (still in playoffs with Grimsby) have better credentials than Gould.
Gould is there by circumstance, but is hopefully unlikely to be even be on the bench. And if he is doing his GK coaching badges etc, and being a relative mature age 28 (younger than Marinovic, older than Sail) he's probably even giving the other two some advice/tips alongside his Dad maybe. Perhaps spending his time poring over videos of Navas looking for some weakness, or what Navas does in a pen shootout if it goes to that. I'm sure they are looking at everything. A collective effort
Paulsen is better off getting game time and training with his club. You need a keeper with experience to help train the others which is what Gould offers.
I just watched the replay of the Wrexham v Grimsby game. Crazy stuff 4-5. Very entertaining. Crocombe played well and made a couple of excellent saves.
Costa Rica is far more battle hardened than NZ. Don't forget they played 14 competitive games within 6 months, and two more before June 14th.
I think everyone knows that.
AWs will definitely be underdogs. I'm giving them a 30-40% chance sans Singh & Thomas. Just being realistic.
Hopefully Peru roll out a first choice side. That game should offer a better form guide than any game AWs have played since, well 2017!
Game against Ro Ireland in November 2019 was a full strength team, and given what happens in a couple weeks, could be the only one Hay gets. Though it was his first game with only a couple training sessions before it so, fair enough, might not have been the perfect litmus paper.
Could someone explain what is being said behind the paywall?. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/road-to-doha-costa-rica-gain-preparation-advantage-over-all-whites-ahead-of-fifa-world-cup-qualifying-clash/4I4NFSN52Z66M44KFMS2MUAJ74/
Could someone explain what is being said behind the paywall?. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/road-to-doha-costa-rica-gain-preparation-advantage-over-all-whites-ahead-of-fifa-world-cup-qualifying-clash/4I4NFSN52Z66M44KFMS2MUAJ74/
Just says that Costa Rica's had the majority of their squad in a camp since May 15, far earlier than us. Also mentions that 22 out of 27 players selected play domestically, so there's familiarity and it was much simpler to organise the camp
Costa Rica is far more battle hardened than NZ. Don't forget they played 14 competitive games within 6 months, and two more before June 14th.
I think everyone knows that.
AWs will definitely be underdogs. I'm giving them a 30-40% chance sans Singh & Thomas. Just being realistic.
Hopefully Peru roll out a first choice side. That game should offer a better form guide than any game AWs have played since, well 2017!
Game against Ro Ireland in November 2019 was a full strength team, and given what happens in a couple weeks, could be the only one Hay gets. Though it was his first game with only a couple training sessions before it so, fair enough, might not have been the perfect litmus paper.
Being at that game it felt very much a scratch team and I don't think some of those who played have done much of note since for various reasons (Roux, McCowatt and Thomas). Was certainly not the best AW match I've ever seen. Hopefully this weekend will be much better.
Costa Rica is far more battle hardened than NZ. Don't forget they played 14 competitive games within 6 months, and two more before June 14th.
I think everyone knows that.
AWs will definitely be underdogs. I'm giving them a 30-40% chance sans Singh & Thomas. Just being realistic.
Hopefully Peru roll out a first choice side. That game should offer a better form guide than any game AWs have played since, well 2017!
Game against Ro Ireland in November 2019 was a full strength team, and given what happens in a couple weeks, could be the only one Hay gets. Though it was his first game with only a couple training sessions before it so, fair enough, might not have been the perfect litmus paper.
Being at that game it felt very much a scratch team and I don't think some of those who played have done much of note since for various reasons (Roux, McCowatt and Thomas). Was certainly not the best AW match I've ever seen. Hopefully this weekend will be much better.
Well it was a scratch team. A couple of training sessions, a new coach and some players on debut. Many strangers to each other
That’s next to useless as a buildup to producing a quality performance. Look at Costa Rica now. They are basically a club team, not long off a tough CONCACAF 14 game campaign and now in camp for a month before playing the AWs. Plus the core of their group having been together for close to 10 years, back to 2014 WC qualifying
Thankfully NZ have played a bit themselves since mid last year (Olympics). But Rojas comes in behind the 8 ball late in the piece, and he could yet be an important player. It is what it is
I promised/threatened to write something long about Costa Rica since I watched 10 of their 14 qualifiers and saw them in person…
They’re an interesting team because they have a number of well-known players from their 2014 team that they were leaning on, but that group wasn’t really getting the job done in the first half of qualifying. Most of the windows featured 3 matches in 8 days, so everyone was rotating their squad and in doing so, Costa Rica found that their younger players where helping them get results more than when they stuck with their veterans. It is still mostly the old guard, but I think they’ve learned that they can’t start a team full of older players. In their final match against the U.S. they played a very young squad (due to yellow card worries) and earned a 2-0 win. So it feels like they are clearly better when they have 3-4 younger players in the starting lineup. However, in a playoff will they actually not start Bryan Ruiz or Celso Borges? It’s a big call to bench some of the best players in the history of the country.
Costa Rica has almost always played with three in the back in the last few decades. Even when it wasn’t fashionable, they had three in the back. So it was jarring to see them play in a back four to start qualifying. Lately they’ve been using a 3-4-3 (or a 5-4-1 if they’re really pinned back) on the road and a back four (either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 that frankly don’t look too dissimilar in practice) at home. As has been noted, they have been defensive-minded and have had less of the ball than their opponents. As a back four they get quite narrow when they’re back in their defensive shape. They also aren’t shy about falling into a bank of five and a bank of four if they’re pinned back.
In goal, obviously Keylor Navas starts and is their most important player. I’m not sure he is quite at the level he once was, but he can still steal matches. He is also not shy about sending long balls to launch the counter and his distribution has been pretty effective. His numbers in the octo were very impressive and he was almost twice as effective as any other keeper, including Canada’s Milan Borjan who was in the form of his life.
Leonel Moreira is 32 and has started a few Gold Cups when Navas has taken the summer off and was very good in the 2011 Copa America. He has a lot of CONCACAF Champions League experience and is very steady… except he was a disaster in qualifying. He came in for Navas and let in a late near-post goal against the US which gave them a massive three points and Moreira’s dropped cross gave Canada their goal in Edmonton a few days later.
The centre of defence is probably Costa Rica’s strength. Oscar Duarte scored in that famous win over Uruguay in 2014 and plays for Levante in La Liga. He missed the last window, but is their best defender. He’s strong, solid defensively, decent in the air, composed.
Beside him are two MLS veterans Francisco Calvo (who is still with San Jose) and Kendall Waston (who has returned home to play with Saprissa). I think Calvo would probably be preferred (he is also left-footed) between the two, but both he and Waston have had some off nights and some huge performances over qualifying and they played well together in the March window. They’re both a little aggressive and can be pulled around with quick ball movement. They’re both very good in the air with a knack for scoring off set pieces. Calvo has seven goals and Waston has six. Waston is also 6’5” (1.96m, do you do heights in metric?) and honestly I would start Waston just to try to match up with Wood. Waston is also a physical presence beyond his height. I think they fit well in a back three (Duarte plays in the middle, Waston on the right and Calvo on the left) and it lets Waston and Calvo push into the midfield to try to win balls and get stuck into tackles with a little more cover behind. The other CB is Juan Pablo Vargas from Millionaros in Colombia. He looks pretty good, but has basically been used to close out matches. He’s 1.92m, so he’s a big lad as well and he’s played some left back to shore up the defending late. He looks surprisingly comfortable as a towering left fullback, but clearly is more of a central defender.
Left back should be pretty cut-and-dried. Ronald Matarrita and Bryan Oviedo basically platooned in the position. I think Matarrita has had the better qualifying cycle, but Canada’s Mark-Anthony Kaye caught him late and though Matarrita nearly finished the match (and VAR somehow didn’t send Kaye off), he seems to be out for June due to the injury. That should leave Oviedo to start. He has played for Everton and Sunderland, but is currently in his second stint with FC Copenhagen. He has a good work rate and I think is better as a wingback, but his defending and positioning has never been great. I think Matarrita was also more of a threat going forward. It’s worth noting that Costa Rica won four of the five matches Oviedo didn’t start. They were 3W, 2L, 4D with him starting. Still Oviedo is 32, has loads of experience and is a solid player. 18-year-old Ian Lawrence started at left back in the U.S. match and played well. He looked pretty dynamic going forward, but Yedlin for the US got behind him a few times as well. I don’t see him starting (I think Vargas would push out to FB if something happens to Oviedo), but you never know.
Right back is an interesting spot because their veteran Cristian Gamboa didn’t play a match of qualifying due to injury and then covid. I think if he’s healthy, the Bochum man would get the nod. He had poor stints at Celtic and West Brom, but he’s got pace and covers a lot of ground. I think he’s better than Oviedo, but they’re fairly similar and I think both are better wingbacks than fullbacks. They started qualifying with Ricardo Blanco from Saprissa starting. I think Blanco is maybe a better defensive option, but he was injured and missed the back half of the qualifying campaign. Those injuries left Keysher Fuller as the only real option. I feel bad for Fuller because he seems to be the scapegoat for the fanbase. He’s not a good defender but he also gets very little help from the wide attacker on the right. He’s fast and he’s decent going forward. His passing isn’t great, but he’s a threat and I think when used as a wingback his defensive issues are less of a liability. I think if Gamboa is healthy he starts.
The centre of midfield might be the most interesting area on the pitch in terms of what Luis Fernando Suarez decides to do. They started qualifying with a pairing of Celso Borges and David Guzman. Guzman is an aggressive and physical d-mid who can win the ball, commits fouls and has (had?) good quickness. He had some decent years in MLS with Portland and Columbus but is back with Saprissa. He was replaced by Yeltsin Tejada, who is a similarly hard-working defensive midfielder. Tejada is a more subtle player than Guzman and he quietly had a good 2014 World Cup where he started all five matches. Borges is Costa Rica’s all-time cap leader and provides a nice range of passing and some quality in the centre of the pitch. If given time on the ball, he can really spread the ball around and launch the counter. He’s one of the smartest players in the region and can still take over a match with his vision and intelligence. That being said he’s not known for his work rate. He will also take most of Costa Rica’s free kicks, though Ruiz still gets his share when he’s on the pitch. In Canada, Orlando Galo, 21, who had two caps and 12 total minutes of international soccer, got the start. He added a lot of energy in the middle of the midfield and I thought he played well. Costa Rica has won four of the five matches Galo has started. In the second half of the Canada match in Costa Rica they subbed out Galo for Tejada at the half. Canada, despite being down a man, dominated the second half, particularly controlling the midfield against Borges and Tejada. So you have Borges and Tejada who are both better than Galo, but together I don’t think the pairing has the quickness and work rate to do the job any more. On the the other hand, without Tejada or Guzman, they lose some of that combativeness in the midfield. I think their best bet is still to start Galo, but it’s a big shout to bench either Tejada (which I have to assume would be the case) or Borges and start an inexperienced player like Galo, but I think it makes them a better team. Daniel Chacon, 21, made his debut against the U.S. I think he’s a natural central defender, but he paired with Galo in the midfield and got rave reviews from Costa Rican fans and the media. I thought he was solid, but so was Galo and I think Galo would be ahead of him in the pecking order.
Up front, they’ve struggled to find a proper No. 9. They started using Jonathan Moya in qualifying, but he hasn’t even been in the squad in 2022. They moved on to Jose Guillermo Ortiz. I actually thought Ortiz wasn’t bad. He’s a big body, he held the ball up decently which is useful when you don’t have it that much. He started four of five matches in a row (missing out due to covid) and then has been relegated to the bench for the last five. Joel Campbell started up front twice and then they turned to Anthony Contreras in the last window. When I saw Contreras was starting against Canada, I was totally baffled. Not only had I never heard of him, but I’d also never heard of Guanacasteca his Costa Rican club (and I like to think I know most clubs in the country). I felt better when the Ticos fanbase seemed to also have no idea who he was. He’s been pretty good. He’s more mobile than Ortiz, but still has some height. He will work to press the backline which is helpful and he definitely tracks back and works harder than Ortiz. He’s been in form for his club which got him this chance. I think they’re better off with someone other than Campbell up top because it lets Campbell have more influence on the match playing elsewhere. Contreras had 15 minutes of international experience before starting Costa Rica’s last three matches, but he has scored twice in those three matches, which is two more goals than any other forward has scored (I guess one of Campbell’s two goals came when he was playing up top), so I would think he is the favourite to start.
Outside of Navas, Joel Campbell has been their best player. I think they prefer to play him on the right wing, but I think he’s been better as either a target man up top, or especially as a second striker playing off the No. 9. It gives him the freedom to find the game and get on the ball a lot more. He has almost been playing like a No. 10 when they’ve played two forwards. He drives them forward, he can pick out the right pass to break the lines on the counter, he’s dangerous around the box. Most of the moments where Costa Rica is scary is either off of set pieces or counter attacks started or finished by Campbell.
Which leaves the two wing positions. They’ve been the spots with the most turnover and are probably the hardest to predict. Campbell is a natural right winger, captain Bryan Ruiz is a natural No. 10 who can also play on the left wing. If they played a 3-4-3 it could that simple, but I don’t think Ruiz will start. He shouldn’t start. He looks well past it. I think he’s getting called up on reputation alone, but in a one-off playoff what kind of performance might he have? Is this his final international match if they lose?
On the wings they’ve mostly used a pair of younger players in the last few months. 21-year-old Alonso Martinez has some quality as an attacker, but he also works harder than most of the other attacking players and will press to win the ball back which I think is useful and he tracks back better than most of his teammates. In saying that, he came into the CR-Canada match and did nothing to stem the tide when they were up a man and did little to help Fuller who was being run ragged on that wing. Gerson Torres, 24, can play either side, but is naturally a right-sided player. Martinez has also played on the left when Torres has been on the right and they’ve swapped side mid-match as well. I think there’s a good chance Torres and/or Martinez start the playoff. Torres’ 95th minute winner against Honduras got Costa Rica on the path to get back into qualification. They haven’t lost since then. This season has been Torres’ coming out party. He’s had a very good season for Heridiano and may be on his way somewhere bigger. He has a little more creativity and playmaking ability than anyone beyond Campbell. Torres and Martinez have started a lot of the road games down the stretch with Campbell playing up front.
They have a lot of other options, obviously Ruiz being a notable one either on the left or playing centrally in a 4-2-3-1. Ruiz has been coming off of the bench, but has been doing so consistently. He scored the vital goal against Panama, but he was mostly at the right place at the right time after a lot of good work from Campbell. He hasn’t shown much to warrant his continued inclusion. Veteran Johan Venegas started on the left in the 1-0 win over Canada and baited Kaye into his second yellow. I wish I knew how many touches he had in that match because he drew seven fouls. Suffice it to say he invited contact. He’s a smart player and he likes to mix it up for an attacking player, but I don’t know that there’s a lot of end product there any more. Beyond Venegas, Jewison Bennette has had a couple of starts and is only 17. He has very quick feet and serious pace. He usually plays on the left wing. I think he’s too inexperienced for this kind of match, but he could provide some pace off the bench. Aaron Suarez is 19, but is quick and tricky and likes to take people on off the dribble. He’s also maybe a little too inexperienced, but he has also had a starts on the left wing ahead of Torres and can play centrally.
There are a number of players I think most people expected to be much more involved than they have been. Jimmy Marin started two of the first three qualifiers as a winger, but has not been called up since November. Randall Leal is another left winger who started the Nations League semifinal and featured a lot in the 2019 Gold Cup as a 22yo, but has been dropped after playing in six of the first seven matches. Leal is a little mercurial, but he plays for Nashville in MLS and I think is skilled and dynamic player which is in short supply for the offensively-challenged Ticos. Allan Cruz in Cincinnati was a regular starter under the previous manager and was in the team in the Nations League, but the playmaker hasn’t seen the pitch in qualifying. Ariel Lassiter is another MLS player (Inter Miami) who was starting at the Gold Cup on the left wing (with Leal being involved in Olympic qualifying) and started the first qualifier there and hasn’t played since. Luis Diaz with Columbus is a right winger who played in the Gold Cup and only has 45 minutes in qualifying.
Lassiter, Marin, Leal, Diaz, Cruz… they’re all 23-27. It seems like the manager has opted for players in their teens/early 20s and then the old guard of over-30s. The players in their mid-20s that seemed like it was their cycle to make an impact, they largely haven’t. I never would have expected Bennette and Suarez would be getting starts and Leal and Marin and Cruz wouldn’t even be in the squad. I don’t expect the squad to change much, but if one of the MLS players is in good form you have to think they would be considered. I should add it’s not that I think these guys deserve more because they’re in MLS, it’s more that for the most part, their performances in the Costa Rican league got them a chance to play at a bigger level. It seemed like they were young talents on the rise and the next generation of Costa Rican talent, whereas the golden generation from 2014 have all been returning home to finish their careers and seem to be on the verge of retiring.
So who will start against the All Whites? If I had to guess, I’d say:
——————————Navas
Gamboa————Duarte——Calvo————Oviedo
———————Tejada————Borges
Torres————————————————Venegas
——————Campbell———Contreras
I would expect Galo, Ruiz and Martinez to be the first guys off the bench.
That’s not what I would do (I’d get Waston and Galo on the pitch, probably for Venegas and Tejada)
So how do you beat Costa Rica?
1) defend set pieces. They are very dangerous in the air and have good dead balls specialists.
2) Harass Celso Borges. Don’t give him time to dictate the match.
3) Take Joel Campbell out of the match as much as possible. The more he’s on the ball, the more involved he is, the better Costa Rica has been.
4) Win the midfield and possess the ball. Costa Rica has won a lot of matches when not having a lot of the ball, but I think the more you make their attacking players work without the ball and track back the better off you are.
5) And this is so obvious it feels dumb to say it, but bury your chance(s). I think good scoring chances will be at a premium. The first goal (if there even is a first goal) will be massive. Costa Rica won six of their last seven matches to get to this playoff. They scored first in all six wins.
So there you go. Thanks (and apologies) to anyone who made it this far. :)
It's basically their only warmup game of major value. *Martinique (no FIFA ranking) game, in a few days CR may well just play their squaddies similar to what AWs will likely do against Oman.
*As an overseas department of the French Republic, Martinique is not a member of FIFA and is therefore not eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup or any competition organised first-hand by the organisation. Martiniquais, being French citizens, are eligible to play for the France national football team.
Costa Rica starting eleven verus Panama. Looks like a lot of the younger players have got a start. One of the starters Bennette is only age 17. Another Aguilera is 18.
Gone away from a back 3/5 they have been playing with recently. Hint maybe they see AWs as weak/very young in midfield, and they are going to play different to what they have lately in CONCACAF WC qualifying?? Or they are going to go for a younger midfield like us, as worried about our younger, faster guys??
Their premier CB Duarte (from La Liga) on the bench. Tejeda & Campbell also on the bench who would both normally start?? No Borges - injured? Brian Ruiz out with Covid.
It could all just be a big fox by their coach. His experienced older brigade have all played so many games together they don't need to play Panama in a televised game for Hay and co to pore over. They play some intersquad games away from prying eyes in their month long domestic camp, then all get named to start June 14th. Who knows.
⚽️ Estos serán el Xl titular que para el juego ante Panamá 🔥
