Costa Rica’s all-out attack dazzles while its fans shower American players.
By Mike Woitalla in San Jose, Costa Rica
When Christopher Columbus landed in Costa Rica, he thought he’d found the Garden of Eden. For the U.S. national team, this place turned hellish.
“The worst place I ever played,” striker Eric Wynalda said.
More than a half a million foreigners visit Costa Rica each year to enjoy its jungles, beaches and cantinas of ill-repute near the Parque Morazon.
The tourists come looking for paradise and that famous Tico friendliness, and they usually find both.
The U.S. players came looking for their fourth straight win, or at least a tie. But they got beat, 2-1, pelted, and insulted by signs that made rude accusations about players’ wives and mothers.
Assistant coach Clive Charles said he was truly frightened while leaving the field after the loss that puts pressure on the team to earn at least two points from its final two games, unless Guatemala can’t beat Trinidad & Tobago Dec. 8. If Guatemala gets less than three points, the Ticos and the U.S. go through before they meet at Stanford Dec. 14.
The U.S. met Costa Rica at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, instead of the National Stadium. Rumor had it Brazilian Valdeir “Badu” Vieira preferred the Saprissa Stadium because it doesn’t have a running track, which would prevent the crowd from being as intimidating. Costa Rican federation president Eduardo Echeverria said Saprissa was used because events there are better organized.
The security didn’t seem too organized as guards watched the game instead of controlling the fans. But the Costa Rican team — accused before the game by the press of being disorganized — played with cohesion, determination and flair.
The Ticos thoroughly outplayed the U.S. They had lost to Guatemala in previous week, and before hosting the Americans promised to launch an all-out attack. Badu described his system before the game: “I have five players for attack and five for defense.”
In fact, the Costa Ricans played with a frontline that included two true wingers and a center forward. That’s a system hardly used any more because coaches consider it risky, archaic or too predictable. Yet it caught the Americans by surprise and demolished them.
Wingers Hernan Medford and Paulo Wanchope played brilliantly while center forward Rolando Fonseca occupied Alexi Lalas. “Fonseca made the sacrifice that enabled the others to shine,” Badu said.
The Costa Ricans also had central midfielder Oscar Ramirez organizing attacks and defensive players who, once they won it, were able to work the ball downfield.
Adding saliva to insult
While the Costa Rican players offered an admirable performance on the field, their fans disgraced themselves. U.S. players and coaches were spat on, and fans threw batteries, coins, pieces of fence wire, screws and various liquids onto the field.
Paul Caligiuri was hit with mace-like spray as he left the field and was treated for welts on his skin.
“I’ve never been spat on more times in my life,” said goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who’s had his share of abuse playing in Turkey. “I’ve had plenty of stuff thrown at me, but I’ll tell you I’ve never been looked in the eye and spat on in the face before.”
Coach Steve Sampson, who was hit twice in the chest by a spitter, said the team abuse from fans probably didn’t affect the result, “but this has to stop in CONCACAF.”
Immediately following the game, the U.S. filed a complaint with FIFA observer Jim Flemming of Canada that wouldn’t cause a change in the result, but perhaps a fine.
Flemming himself was the victim of a beer dousing after a celebration of Costa Rica’s second goal in the VIP box.
Lalas, who had a miserable time trying to defend against Costa Rica’s forwards, was hit by fans with a coin and a battery. He also had an altercation after the game as he tried to make his way to the locker room.
“What the fans did had nothing to do with the result,” Lalas said.
It’s probably of little consolation that the treatment received by the U.S. wasn’t unique; CONCACAF battles between most countries in Central America include such receptions for the visitors.
“[The crowd behavior] is what you have to expect when you play in Latin America,” Preki said. “But on the field it’s 11 against 11 and we lost today because we couldn’t put passes together.”
Gesture costs Wynalda
In its next game, the U.S. will be without Paul Caligiuri and Wynalda, who received their second yellow cards against Costa Rica.
Caligiuri, filling in for injured Tom Dooley at sweeper, saw his for a foul in the 45th minute.
Wynalda got his four minutes earlier for “dissent” when he showed his displeasure for a handball call by grabbing himself between the legs. He later said he was merely showing referee Peter Prendergast what a Costa Rican had done to him.
Wynalda’s frustrations may have stemmed from his teammates’ inability to give him the ball. Passes intended for the forward usually landed closer to defenders. Indeed, the bad passing of John Harkes and Claudio Reyna, among others, enabled the Costa Ricans to launch their attacks incessantly.
The U.S. intended to play a 3-5-2, with a defense that had Caligiuri sweep behind Lalas and Pope, but midfielder Stewart became a right back because the Costa Ricans had three forwards. Stewart, an attacking player, was overwhelmed by Wanchope, a 21-year-old making his first national team start.
Wanchope escaped Stewart three times in the first 22 minutes for scoring chances but couldn’t finish. Mike Burns, the most experienced true defender on the U.S. bench, started warming up after 20 minutes. But when he entered in the 30th minute, he subbed for Preki, not Stewart, who moved to forward as Joe-Max Moore moved into the midfield.
Preki had been the only effective U.S. attacker in that he escaped his marker in the 17th minute and shot from 23 yards into goalkeeper Eric Lonis’ chest. Sampson apparently felt this game needed players more suited to defense, but the United States’ “true” defenders also proved unable to cope with Costa Rica’s attack.
Three minutes after Lalas hit the Costa Rican crossbar from a Wynalda pass, Lalas fell victim to Medford, the Italia ’90 veteran.
Deep in the left corner, Medford escaped Burns and then nutmegged Lalas before hitting a sharp, low pass that Wanchope knocked in from six yards as he outreached Eddie Pope.
Pope actually turned in a decent performance. He dealt will with Medford on the right wing, before Medford switched sides with Wanchope.
“It was very difficult to play against [Pope],” Medford said. “So it was good to switch once in a while. As soon as we switched, we scored.”
In the second half, the U.S. had four defenders, Harkes and Reyna in the central midfield, Jones and Stewart wide in midfield, and Moore played behind Wynalda. But Costa Rica continued to dominate.
Friedel, who made an excellent save off Wanchope in the first half, denied Medford with a sliding tackle at the edge of the penalty area in the 55th minute. Fonseca broke through and hit the side-netting in the 70th minute.
In his best save of the day, Friedel deflected a rocket from Ronald Gomez over the bar in the 82nd minute, but with six minutes left, the Costa Ricans hit their second.
Wanchope, who earlier had put on a juggling show, combined on a one-two with Wilmer Lopez on the left flank that sent Wanchope to the end line. He crossed low, and the ball rolled past Caligiuri before landing at the feet of Lopez, who had stormed unmarked to a nice spot in front of the U.S. goal. He easily knocked it past Friedel.
In the 90th minute, Jones scored on a high 16-yard shot after for a consolation goal.
While Preki had started in place of the injured Ramos, Jones took over suspended Jeff Agoos’ spot on the left flank. Despite the absentees, the most troubling aspect of this game was that the U.S. floundered against the first opponent that played an attacking game against it.
“The Costa Ricans played outstanding,” said Sampson. “They played well defensively and offensively and today’s result was just.”
To see Wanchope slide past Lalas in the second half even though Lalas firmly grabbed the lanky forward’s arm demonstrated the futility of this defense.
Also, one wonders whether the U.S. midfield can be expected to get on track when its defense plays so poorly.
“We pressured them from the first minute of the game,” Vieira said. “That prevented the Americans from getting into a rhythm and it enabled us to keep the ball in their territory.”