Preview: Costa Rica hoping to return to winning ways
La Sele have lost all of their last three matches and will be hoping to round off their preparations for the World Cup on a winning note with a positive performance against Paraguay. Costa Rica have failed to score in any of their last three defeats, with their previous encounter against South Korea ending in a 1-0 loss. Their other defeats include a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Chile as well as a 1-0 to Australia who have also successfully qualified for this year’s World Cup to be held in Brazil.
However Costa Rica were unfortunate to be without star players Bryan Ruiz and Alvaro Saborio in all three matches. Ironically the duo is their team’s last two goal scorers when they got themselves on the score sheet when Costa Rica defeated Mexico 2-1 in October last year.
Saborio’s absence in particular really affected the Costa Rican side, for the 31 year old is a regular goal scorer for the national side having scored 31 times, the highest for an active Costa Rican player.
Coach Jorge Luis Pinto will also be worried about the potential absence of Everton midfielder Bryan Oviedo who suffered a horrific injury in the English side’s 4-0 win over Stevenage in January in the FA Cup.
However Toffees manager Roberto Martinez has revealed positive news claiming that the 24 year old has made a remarkable recovery from his injury and has a slim chance of making it to the World Cup.
"I've never seen anything like it before," Martinez said speaking of Oviedo’s astonishing recovery.
"I was talking with the medical staff and we're all staggered. The word is remarkable.”
"He's an incredibly quick healer and he's so focused. He's been working non-stop in the little jobs he's got to do daily.”
"He's an outstanding example of how players should be facing adversity. He's never felt down, he's taken each day as one less day until he's back to fitness.
"I always felt, because of the way Bryan is mentally and how focused he is, that he had a slim, slim chance of making the World Cup.”
Whereas Oviedo’s inclusion in the Costa Rican squad for the World Cup squad remains a doubt, one player who is destined to secure his place is Olympiacos starlet Joel Campbell. The 21 year old on loan at the Greek club from English side Arsenal has been hugely impressive during his stint at Olympiacos. The youngster got his name on the score sheet when The Reds defeated Manchester United in the Champions League and will be hoping to make the difference for his national side as well.
Their counterparts Paraguay had a dismal World Cup Qualification campaign in which they finished rock bottom in the group which comprised of nine countries from South America.
Like Costa Rica Los Guaraníes are winless in their last three matches. After subjecting Bolivia to a 4-0 loss in the WCQ campaign Paraguay were thrashed 5-2 by Argentina which was followed by a 1-1 draw against Venezuela and a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Colombia. Even though Paraguay failed to qualify for the World Cup, La Albirroja should be a stiff test for Jorge Luis Pinto’s side.
Paraguay has emerged victorious in both of the last two meetings between the two sides. A 1-0 victory in the 2004 Copa America was followed by a 2-0 win against Costa Rica during a friendly in 2010.
Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels, live scores
Watch Costa Rica vs Paraguay live on Wednesday, March 5, 2014:
In Costa Rica at 20:00 on Repretel
