Costa Rica Soccer Team

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Costa Rica Soccer Team-General Information
Country – Costa Rica
Capital City – San Jose
Continent – South America
Manager – Alexandre Guimaraes
Captain – Jafet Soto

Costa Rica Soccer Team History
Founded 1921
Affiliated 1921

WC participations 2 (1990, 2002)
WC honours Last sixteen 1990
Continental Titles Seven times CCCF champions (1941, 1946, 1948, 1953, 1955, 1960, 1961), three times Concacaf champions (1963, 1969, 1989), Central American champions (1993)

World Cup Record:
Year Host Performance
1930 Uruguay -
1934 Italy -
1938 France -
1950 Brazil -
1954 Switzerland -
1958 Sweden -
1962 Chile -
1966 England -
1970 Mexico -
1974 West Germany
1978 Argentina -
1982 Spain -
1986 Mexico -
1990 Italy Second Round (last 16)
1994 U.S.A. -
1998 France -
2002 S.Korea/Japan Third, Group C -
2006 Germany in Group A with Germany, Poland, Ecuador
COSTA-RICA Football Team for 2006 FIFA World Cup

Coach:
Alexandre Guimaraes

Goalkeepers: Alvaro Mesen, Jose Francisco Porras, Wardy Alfaro.

Defenders:
Jervis Drummond, Luis Marin, Michael Umana, Gilberto Martinez, Leonardo Gonzalez, Harold Wallace, Gabriel Badilla, Michael Rodriguez.

Midfielders:
Danny Fonseca, Cristian Bolanos, Mauricio Solis, Walter Centeno, Kurt Bernard, Carlos Hernandez, Douglas Sequeira

Forwards:
Victor Nunez, Alvaro Saborio, Kurt Bernard, Paulo Wanchope, Ronald Gomez.

Costa Rica Statistics in Group A with Germany, Poland, Ecuador
The team is known as 'Ticos'
Jersey No. Name of the Player
1 Alvaro Mesen
2 Jervis Drummond
3 Luis Marin
4 Michael Umana
5 Gilberto Martinez
6 Danny Fonseca
7 Cristian Bolanos
8 Mauricio Solis
9 Paulo Wanchope
10 Walter Centeno
11 Ronald Gomez
12 Leonardo Gonzalez
13 Kurt Bernard
14 Randall Azofeifa
15 Harold Wallace
16 Carlos Hernandez
17 Gabriel Badilla
18 Jose Francisco Porras
19 Alvaro Saborio
20 Douglas Sequeira
21 Victor Nunez
22 Michael Rodriguez
23 Wardy Alfaro

Costa Rica Soccer Team is playing in Group A along with Germany, Poland and Equador. This time it will be Costa Rica's third appearance at the FIFA World Cup. Their first-stage opponent was Cuba. A 0-0 draw in their final game in Honduras put them through to the final phase. Costa Rica Soccer Team faced a 2-1 home defeat by Mexico, a 3-0 loss away to the United States and a draw with Trinidad and Tobago was all that was there in the team's kitty. A 2-1 win over Panama gave the only ray of hope. Costa Rica finished third in the CONCACAF qualifying group behind Mexico and USA.

The Brazil-born coach, Alexandre Gujmaraes was a part of the 1990 Costa Rican team that qualified for the second phase of the World Cup in Italy. The coach who guided the Ticos to Korea/Japan 2002, returned in April 2005. Under his able guidance, Costa Rica defeated Guatemala, Panama, T&T and the USA to secure a berth in Germany.

During their appearance at Italia 90 and Korea/Japan 2002, Costa Rica displayed that they are a talented bunch.

The players to watch this time are Gilberto Martinez, Walter Centano and Forward Paulo Wanchope.

Costa Rica Soccer Team takes on hosts Germany in the tournament-opener in Munich on June 9th. Analysts are saying that the 'Ticos' might not be a danger for the German team but opening matches are not always easy.