Uruguay have a foot and four toes into South Africa; Costa Rica are hanging by merely a thread. So go the verdicts from the press in both countries. Uruguay asserted themselves on a substandard pitch, used their physicality and their defensive discipline to pin the Costa Ricans in their own area and disconnect the Tico midfield from their strikers, and were opportunistic at the right time. The injury to Gilberto Martínez on 22 minutes -- after three years out of the national team -- removed Costa Rica's best central defender from the game, and Uruguay took advantage almost immediately. Randall Azofeifa's second yellow card, on fouls as imprudent as Uruguay's challenges were not, all but decided the contest.
Just six months ago the Costa Rican press were praising the effort of the Ticos and penciling them into the final 32. Now, they have all but surrendered any hope of a return to the World Cup finals. The press is already starting to opine about where the campaign went wrong. And at least one of the players has indeed surrendered. (As far as I'm concerned, Froylán Ledezma should never wear the national team shirt again after his abandonment. It looks like he'll have to pay his own way back to Europe. Good.)
Another thing: that intimidating Saprissa crowd, the one that would rattle a South American side and create a hellish 90 minutes? A complete no-show. One other thing: that referee Undiano, the one with the reputation of having diarrhea of the cards? Surprisingly mute in a highly physical game.
As for Uruguay, the player of the match could have been either Lugano or Forlán. I would go with Forlán -- his possession on the left was always dangerous, and his combination of speed and ball control gave the Costa Rican defenders fits during the game. He had the kind of support from his teammates that Bryan Ruíz did not get. Now the charrúas return to their fortress -- an almost sold-out fortress -- with the best possible result.
Gotta have faith. After all, now it's just twenty-two men on a field with one trying to score more than the other. It's possible.
Posted by: Jose | November 16, 2009 at 02:09 AM