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WORLD
CUP SOCCER:
Costa Rica Loses to German
Amateurs
Four up. Four down. Costa Rica
were beaten 3-2 by a German
regional team of third, fourth
and fifth division amateurs in a
World Cup warm-up match on
Thursday.
With the exception of
first-choice goalkeeper Jose
Francisco Porras, who played the
first half, Costa Rica fielded
mainly substitutes in front of a
full house of 9,500 in the town
of Sandhausen south of Costa
Rica's base in the city of
Heidelberg.
Costa Rica plays Germany in the
World Cup's opening match on
June 9. The other nations in
Group A are Poland and Ecuador.
Costa Rica's central defenders
Jervis Drummond and Michael
Rodriguez failed to mark
opponents, who scored easy goals
in the fourth, 13th and 66th
minutes.
The midfield, led by Christian
Bolanos and Randall Azofeifa,
could not penetrate the robust
German team, but Kurt Bernard
scored from a free kick in the
11th minute and Alvaro Saborio
converted a late penalty for
their second goal.
With yesterday's loss, it makes
"friendly" game number four that
Ticos have come up short.
The first loss came on March 01
when the Ticos lost to Iran 3-1.
Then on May 28, the national
team lost 4-0 to the Ukranian
team and May 30 they dropped 1-0
to the Czechs.
Many believe this is a tactic by
the Costa Rican coach so as not
to tip their hand against the
powerful German team and favored
winner of the opening game.
Others have just resigned
themselves that the Ticos just
plain "suck" and getting to the
World Cup is compensation
enough.
In any event, come June 9, the
entire nation will be glued to a
television set to watch.
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