🇨🇷 It wasn't pretty, but it was Costa Rica
The Ticos save face & stay alive
The plan after an historically bad 7-0 loss was simple: Don’t get embarrassed.
Costa Rica did one better, not only saving face with a respectable performance in its second group game at the World Cup but beating Japan 1-0.
It throws Group E into chaos ahead of this day’s marquee game between Germany and Spain and, unthinkably after the opening day collapse, gives the Central Americans a chance to advance out of the group as they close in on the final group match with Germany.
That still feels so unlikely, but the message Costa Rica sent to their fans, and to the soccer world, was important: Forget about that 7-0, this is who Costa Rica really is.
It wasn’t that Costa Rica was even unrecognizable against Spain, but this was vintage Costa Rica.