Costa Rica have announced their 23-man World Cup squad, with Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas undoubtedly the highest-profile name on their list. Los Ticos Coach Oscar Ramirez will take no less than six players who currently ply their trade in the MLS - Kendall Waston, Francisco Calvo, Ronald Matarrita, David Guzman, Rodney Wallace and Marcos Urena all set to travel to Russia.
Other than those who play in their native Costa Rica or the aforementioned MLS group, Joel Campbell, Oscar Duarte and Celso Borges come from Real Betis, Espanyol and Deportivo La Coruna respectively, while Giancarlo Gonzalez is the sole representative from Serie A, playing his domestic football with Bologna.
Borges and Bryan Ruiz of Sporting CP are the most experienced of the group with 107 caps apiece while 20-year-old Ian Smith will be handed his first call for a major tournament having only previously played 15 minutes of an international friendly with Scotland. The youngster
currently features in the Swedish top-flight for IFK Norrkoping, and received an unexpected place in the squad due to an injury to José Salvatierra.
Sunderland’s Bryan Oviedo will also be heading to Russia, after missing out on the 2014 World Cup due to a horrific injury suffered while playing for Everton versus Stevenage in the FA Cup the previous January. During that tournament, Costa Rica surprised everyone by topping a group that contained England, Uruguay and Italy with two wins and a 0-0 draw with England.
They would eventually lose to the Netherlands on penalties in the quarter-final in Brazil, after holding their European counterparts to a 0-0 draw after extra time. In Russia, the minnows will face a tough group once again, and will face Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia before the knockout stages begin.
📋Estos son los convocados a #LaSele🇨🇷 para la @fifaworldcup_es #Rusia2018.
¡#VamosTicos! ⚽️ 💪🏻 #CRC
Navas and Gonzalez join Ruiz Johnny Acosta as those who were involved in the last edition of the summer tournament, however their boss Oscar Ramirez does not share that level of experience. The former Ticos midfielder was appointed as Coach of the national side in August 2015 to replace former boss Paulo Wanchope. Since then, the 53-year-old has overseen 40 matches, winning 19 of those and losing on 10 occasions.
It is hard to imagine that lightning could strike twice here, with the minnows not expected to progress beyond their initial trio of matches. However, a population of less than 5 million back home will be cheering on all the same, hoping that this band of 23 players can achieve the impossible once again.
Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Patrick Pemberton, Leonel Moreira,
Defenders: Cristian Gamboa, Ian Smith, Ronald Matarrita, Bryan Oviedo, Oscar Duarte, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Francisco Calvo, Kendall Waston, Johnny Acosta
Midfielders: David Guzman, Yeltsin Tejeda, Celso Borges, Randall Azofeifa, Rodney Wallace, Bryan Ruiz, Daniel Colindres, Christian Bolanos,
Attackers: Johan Venegas, Joel Campbell, Marco Urena.
