Mark It On Your Calendar: June 9 Is A Holiday Of Sorts!
The new government of Oscar Arias decreed the public employees can have the morning of June 9, the morning of thed ay of the opening 2006 World Cup game between Costa Rica and Germany, off so that people can watch the game and then go to work once the games are over.

The morning off only applies to government employees. Private sector employees have to negotiate their with employers if the want to do the same.

President Arias made the announcement yesterday in support of the national team. 

"The time off is only for that day. We decided to give people the morning so that they can watch not just the match, but also the World Cup's opening ceremony," presidency minister, Rodrigo Arias, told reporters.

Asked about the other days off in the first round of games and in the event the Costa Rican team advances, Minister Arias said that will remain to be seen.

The national team arrived in Germany last night amid a lukewarm reception where only the written German press was on hand. Of course, both of Costa Rica's channel 6 and 7 news teams travelled with the players are providing televised reports that will lead up to the game on June 9.

This will be the third appearance by Costa Rica at the World Cup games. The first time was in Italy in 1990 and the second in 2002's South Korea and Japanp.

Costa Rica's playing schedule is as follows: June 9 versus Germany at 10.00 a.m. local time (1600 GMT), June 15 versus Ecuador, at 7.00 a.m. local time (1300 GMT), June 20 versus Polanda t 8.00 a.m. (1400 GMT).

The team will also play four friendlies before the main competition, to focus its strategy. On Saturday against a German first division team in Lahr, on Wednesday next week against a Catalan team in Barcelona, on May 28 against Ukraine in Kiev and on May 30 against the Czech Republic in Jablonec.