In the words of young star Ronald Gomez, Costa Rica has struck another autogol.
The Costan Rican federation, which has a history of turmoil, pulled another one when it fired popular national team coach Valdeir “Badu” Vieira a month after he led the Ticos to the final round of World Cup qualifying in CONCACAF’s Hexagonal.
Reasons for the Brazilian Vieira’s dismissal vary. Vieira was forced out when he threatened to sue his former club Alajuela, for its failure to pay him his aguinaldo (Christmas bonus) and accrued vacation. Costa Rican clubs have a big say in the running of the national team program, and they all rallied behind Alajuela against Badu.
The daily La Nacion quoted an unnamed club president who blamed Badu’s departure on poor management: bad planning, lack of team discipline and meddling on the part of his wife Erika.
Badu was popular with players and fans, though, and they took his dismissal hard.
“I’ll say publicly that if Badu is not in the national team, it’s better that the next coach not call me up” said, Gomez, who plays in Spain for Sporting Gijon. “I’m sad. We’ve scored an autogol.”
Three named have been mentioned as possible successors: two Argentines (Guatemalan national team coach Horacio Cordero and Argentina U-20 coach Jose Pekerman) and one Montenegrin (former Ecuador and Bolivia national team coach Drusan Draskovic.