🇨🇷 Costa Rica's famous draw over Brazil shows truths about Ticos
This was going to be a Canada newsletter.
Gustavo Alfaro was willing to lie. The Costa Rica manager asked his players at the half if they wanted to hear the truth or if they wanted a fib.
They picked the truth.
The truth was that Costa Rica had gone into its Copa América opener with Brazil with a defensive-minded game plan. The truth was it already had seen the Selecao score from a set piece later ruled out for an offside violation by the Video Assistant Referee.
The truth? Costa Rica wasn’t going to last.
“If we keep playing like this, we’re probably going to lose the game,” Alfaro recalled telling his players. “If we don’t make Brazil drop back, we’re not going to last 90 minutes defensively. Brazil is probably going to score because they have the skill to do it. We’ve got to push them back.”
Whether it was a bit more attacking effort in the second half, Brazil’s escalating frustration or a combination of tremendous individual plays from the Ticos’ young squad, Brazil didn’t find that goal, and Costa Rica earned a point from its opening match after a scoreless draw.
The match was ugly. Costa Rica barely crossed the halfway line, even after Alfaro gave them the hard truth. But who cares? The point will serve Costa Rica well.
So, too, will the experience gained by the young group.
In his first major tournament start, goalkeeper Patrick Sequeira lived up to the reputation of Keylor Navas, the legendary goalkeeper he was replacing after Navas announced his international retirement last month.
Jeyland Mitchell, a 19-year-old center back who made his senior national team debut this year in a February friendly on a non-FIFA date, frustrated Vinicius Junior (with the help of 26-year-old Herediano defender Haxzel Quirós, a surprise starter against Brazil).
“I told Haxzel, ‘You have the ability and skill to mark (Vini),’ and after the game he said, ‘Profe, I could!’” Alfaro said. “They’re tests and challenges I had to give them. It’s a reward for them.”
Costa Rica now has to feel it has an outside chance to be the spoiler of the group, but the individual players must make sure this isn’t the last time the soccer world hears the names Sequeira, Mitchell, Quirós or Galo. The Ticos now need to be associated with sustained success.
And, obviously, they must lean more on an attack that has its own rising stars.
“What would the mistake be? If we believe that tying with Brazil, or Brazil not being able to beat us, that we have the solution or all the answers. That’s where I’d say we’re wrong,” Alfaro said. “This is the starting point of something we’re building. The work ahead is immense, it’s huge, and it’s a day-to-day construction.
“We’ve got a group. Now we need to find a team. But I’d say we came to show we didn’t just come to go out for a stroll. We’re going to fight in every game.”
After seeing the performance against Brazil, the soccer world knows Alfaro is telling the truth.
How things stand for Concacaf
As a writer who has staked a not insignificant part of his personal brand to the Concacaf region, there’s always a bit of a fear that the Concacaf teams at a major tournament will, uh, stink?
And it’s too early to say how many teams from the region will advance out of the group stage, but every team now has played one match.
The initial returns? Two wins, a draw and three losses - though Mexico v. Jamaica was Concacaf v. Concacaf.
Three Concacaf teams opened their Copa América campaigns against the bookmakers’ three top favorites for the competition, and none of the matches have been lopsided.
The last time we did this, the 2016 Copa América Centenario, the U.S. and Mexico won their groups. Mexico got pasted 7-0 by Chile in the quarterfinal while the U.S. was dominated 4-0 by Argentina in the semifinal.
But the other four Concacaf teams - Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica and Panama - combined for two wins and a total of seven points.
That type of finish still could be around the corner. After all, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Panama have a combined one point right now. But the Ticos’ draw, Canada playing with pride in the opening game against Argentina, and good moments from Jamaica and Panama definitely hint that one of those teams still could advance from the group and the point total from 2016 could be surpassed.
Today’s matches
Peru v. Canada 6p ET - Sorry, Canada. I was hoping to write a big piece on the Reds’ defense ahead of today’s match, but Costa Rica thwarted those plans. Hopefully I can do it ahead of the next match.
This game is huge for Canada. Despite the draw with Chile, Peru still looks like the weakest team in the group. A win for Jesse Marsch’s squad would set up a last-day decider for second place should Argentina hold off Chile.
Just for no reason at all, let’s check in on the ‘feels like’ temperatures in Kansas City, Kansas where this game is set to kick off at 5 p.m. local time:
Oh dear. At least by the second half it’ll feel like it’s only 102.
Chile v. Argentina 9p ET - A rematch of the 2016 Copa América Centenario in the same building, and likely a reminder of just how much things have changed since then.
Yesterday’s results
Colombia 2-1 Paraguay - The star of the game is the Colombian fans who turned NRG Stadium in Houston into the northern outpost of the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla. A sea of yellow accompanied the Cafeteros and likely will continue all tournament.
On the field, this Colombia was the same Colombia we’ve been seeing in World Cup qualification: James Rodriguez is throwing it back, he’s getting help from wide attackers (and defenders coming up) and the defense is relatively stout.
Conceding in the second half is a concern, especially as Paraguay really has struggled to find the back of the net. Paraguay needs Julio Enciso’s debut goal at the international level to be a jumping-off point for its attack.
Brazil 0-0 Costa Rica
Typical concacaf drivel, reporting on consistent, sustained mediocrity as the beginning of something really great! A spirited..... Easy 2-0 win for Argentina is somehow a resounding Canadian success!