COSTA RICA are playing at home for the first time in 15 months, have not won a recognised international match since edging South Korea 1-0 almost a year ago, and have a former player Hernan Medford making his debut as national coach.
The 'Ticos' are desperate for a victory over an inexperienced Trinidad and Tobago team whothey face tonight from 7 p.m. (5 p.m. Costa Rica) at the Morera Soto Stadium, Alajuela.
T&T's "Soca Warriors" are themselves coming off a second-place finish at the Digicel Caribbean Cup and an exciting 2-1 defeat to Panama three days ago. T&T have a losing record against Costa Rica: two victories, four draws, 12 defeats and have never won in that Central American country.
Some are thinking the Warriors are hand-picked opponents to give Medford a winning debut, after an international against Jamaica was cancelled in favour of a two-match series between the teams. Costa Rica are due to make a return trip to T&T later in the year.
The T&T party are unconcerned bythe political ramifications behind the match, and just want to see continued development and a good showing from the young team, who stepped up their performances in the last match against Panama. "It's still preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the World Cup campaign," assistant coach Anton Corneal said.
"We are going to take a look at some of the other players. We are not going to change around the team too much, but some of the guys will get a run."
T&T have a few slight injuries, including one to Leslie "Tiger" Fitzpatrick, who was taken off at half time and replaced by Defence Force's Cristian Baptiste, after being stretchered off at one point against Panama. Joel Bailey, a substitute against Panama, also picked up knock, but it is unlikely that the injuries are enough to keep either player out the game. Another player likely to see action is Kerwin Jemmott, who watched the game from the bench against Panama.
"Jemmott was under the weather with the flu bug the last couple days, so we thought it best not to play him against Panama. But, he will most likely will play tonight," Corneal said. "You saw the last time we played Kwayne Wiltshire, Marvin Phillip, Kevon Carter, Christian Baptiste and those guys to give them the exposure to international football."
Reflecting on the Panama match, Corneal felt that while it might have been exciting to look at from a fan's perspective, there were nevertheless technical flaws that were exposed in some of the players. Corneal said it was no surprise that Panama presented such a physical presence.
"We thought Panama would have been physical. They were when we played them in Port of Spain last year, but we had a lot of the European-based players, who would have been accustomed to that. It was good for the young players. Many would only have played local club football and were having a taste of Central American football for the first time. They would have learnt a lot."
Touching on Christian Baptiste's controversially disallowed goal, Corneal too admitted that the wide, left angle of the shot made it difficult to determine where the ball passed before entering the net. Had it stood, the Soca Warriors would have taken a 2-1 lead in the 82nd minute, but instead, after the goal was disallowed by the Panamanian referee, Panama scored through Aguilar in the 83rd minute and won the game.
"I really don't know. The ball could have gone through the net, but then they check these things before the match," Corneal said, some doubt still lingering in his voice.
There is some good news for the team in that some players got back luggage which was misplaced in Caracas, Venezuela. But, communication problems have surfaced in Central America, particularly in Costa Rica, where it seems impossible to keep in contact with the rest of the world.
Costa Rican coach Hernan Medford is also having his own problems as his team prepare for the UNCAF tournament which serves as a qualifier for the Gold Cup, to be held in the United States from June 6-24.
Costa Rica are in the Group of Death along with Honduras and Panama, while El Salvador (host), Guatemala Nicaragua and Belize are in the "soft" group. Medford thinks it's no coincidence that the three regional "powers" are in the same group. And he questioned the draw carried out by the leaders of the Central American body.
"You know how the Uncaf is handled. Those draws are done in a room where there is not nobody. We understand them," he said, suggesting that is was purposefully done to hurt Costa Rica, who meet Panama in their opening game next week.