Simoes: 'Costa Rica Sí Puede'
Brazilian Rene Simoes is confident he can
turn around the Costa Rican national soccer
team 'la sele", which is in danger of being
eliminated from the 2010 World Cup after
leading the Hexagonal at the halfway point.
But, he is facing obstacles in preparing the
Ticos for the final two games against
Trinidad & Tobago and the USA.
Simoes wants to open training camp for
domestic players on Tuesday, but two clubs,
Saprissa and Cartaginés, reportedly don't
want to release players for two weeks to the
sele.
Following Wednesday's surprise loss to the
Columbus Crew, Saprissa is in danger of not
qualifying for the knockout stage of the
Concacaf Champions League.
Simoes insists he can get the job done.
"With 12 points," he said, "Costa Rica is
very strong." He was referring to the 12
points in the Ticos' first five games (four
wins and one loss). They have since lost to
Honduras (4-0), Mexico (3-0) and El Salvador
(1-0) and dropped to fourth place.
"Costa Rica sí puede," he said. ("Costa Rica
can do it.")
"I'm very happy to coach Costa Rica," Simoes
added. "I know its soccer. I've been in
touch with what has been going on, and I'm a
friend of Alexandre Guimaraes."
Guimaraes, Simoes' countryman, coached Costa
Rica at the World Cup finals in 2002 and
2006.
Simoes is familiar with Concacaf teams,
having coached Jamaica twice and Trinidad &
Tobago.
He led the Reggae Boyz to the World Cup
finals for the first time when they finished
in the top three in 1997 Hexagonal. One of
Jamaica's key results was a 1-1 tie with the
USA at Washington's RFK Stadium.
Costa Rica will need a win on Oct. 14 at RFK
to have any chance of overtaking the USA for
one of the three automatic berths in the
World Cup finals.
It currently holds a four-point lead over El
Salvador in the battle for fourth place.
Concacaf's No. 4 team will advance to a
playoff against South America's No. 5 team
for a berth in the finals.
Simoes also coached the Brazilian women's
national team to the silver medal at the
2004 Olympics and coached three Brazilian
teams earlier this year.
He handed in his resignation after officials
of Portuguesa came into the locker room with
guns on their belts and threatened the
players after a loss.
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