Soccer Team Earns Bronze Medal in Colombia

Costa Rica’s Sub-21 national soccer team, made up of the best players under age 21, defeated Honduras 1-0 Saturday to win a bronze medal in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia, which began July 15 and ended Sunday, according to the official Web site of the games.

Costa Rica’s Kenny Cunningham scored the winning goal in the game, placing his country in third place behind the Venezuelan team, which won a silver medal, and the Colombian team, which triumphed with a gold medal on its home soil.

The Sub-21 team’s bronze medal qualifies it for the Pan-American Games, to be held in June 2007 in Río de Janeiro, Brazil. This competition is the next step toward qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, reported the daily La Nación.

The soccer team’s bronze medal marked the fifth medal won by Costa Rican athletes at the games – swimmer Claudia Poll won gold medals in the 200-meter and 400-meter-freestyle competitions and a silver medal in the 100-meter-freestyle competition, and Kristopher Moitland won a bronze medal in the tae kwon do competition (TT, July 28).