Costa Rica Coach Laments Lack of Warm-up Time
With just over two months to go before Costa Rica play the opening game of the 2006 World Cup against hosts Germany, national team coach Alexandre Gimaraes wishes he had more time to prepare with his players.

The Central American country's domestic league does not end until April 30, after which players will be rested until May 9, giving Guimaraes exactly a month before his team plays Germany in Munich.

"A selection like ours should have eight weeks of preparation," the Brazilian-born Guimaraes told Reuters in an interview.

After a week of training at home, the team will travel to Germany and play three friendlies from May 17-30. Costa Rica will face the Czech Republic in the last of the preparation games, while the other two opponents have yet to be determined.

The lanky Guimaraes said he would be unable to evaluate his team's chances of reaching the second round until after the final warmup match.

"The preparation is not what we would want, but we have a group with experience of having played in a World Cup and that gives us reason for optimism," said Guimaraes.

The 2006 finals will be Costa Rica's third World Cup. The only time the team passed to the second round was in 1994 when the national soccer authorities suspended the domestic league schedule to give the national team more time for training.

Guimaraes will announce his final list of players on May 1, although he said around 80 percent of the team has already been selected in his mind.

His core group of players includes goalkeeper Jose Francisco Porras, defender Luis Marin, midfielder Walter Centeno, and forwards Ronald Gomez and Paulo Wanchope.

Wanchope, who returned to Costa Rica to finish his career after playing in England with Derby County and Manchester City, in Spain with Malaga and in Qatar with Al Garafa, would shoulder the weight of high expectations in Germany, said Guimaraes.

"He has been our international reference for the last eight years," said Guimaraes.

The coach, who played with Costa Rica in the 1994 World Cup under Serbian coaching mastermind Bora Milutinovic, said he had picked up quite a bit from his old coach.

"I learned a lot about dealing with the press and how to communicate with players," said Guimaraes.

Milutinovic also left lessons on the field that has marked Costa Rican soccer ever since, he said.

"He gave us a good lesson in tactical discipline of the players, very closely tied to the overall strategy," said Guimaraes.