The Costa Rican team called up 26 players for the second three dates of the final CONCACAF qualifying round for the Qatar 2022 Men’s World Cup:
Costa Rica will face Honduras on October 7 before returning to the National Stadium for an October 10 match against El Salvador. Then, La Sele will visit Columbus to face the United States on October 13.
These match days are critical for Costa Rica, which dropped points against Mexico and Jamaica in September. La Sele currently ranks fifth in the CONCACAF octagonal with two points.
The top-three teams from the octagonal will qualify to the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, while the fourth-place team enters an intercontinental playoff.
No Ugalde for La Sele
“I think they are players with great qualities and that they can contribute to us in the National Team. I’ve been watching them and I like what I’ve seen. They are players who can contribute different things to us, that’s why they earned the call to the national team,” said Luis Fernando Suárez, the manager.
One name that’s missing is Manfred Ugalde. The talented striker said earlier this week that he has resigned from La Sele until there is a managerial change.
“I am very sorry for the decision, but I respect it,” Suárez said.
Ugalde’s loss could be a significant one for a Costa Rica side that only scored once across its three September matches.
