After last Friday’s thumping 7-0 victory in Belize, Los Ticos now head home for the return leg in the CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification play-off tonight. By virtue of holding a seven-goal advantage, the tie is already all but a foregone conclusion. Nonetheless, head coach Miguel Herrera will be determined to put on a decent display on his home debut.
Belize Profile
Located on the northeastern coast of Central America, Belize borders Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. The nation is relatively small, measuring 290 kilometers (180 miles) in length and 110 kilometers (68 miles) in width, making it easy to miss on the map. It is also the only Central American country whose official language isn’t Spanish but English.
Nicknamed The Jaguars due to the country being home to the largest jaguar population in Central America, Belize has been a proud member of CONCACAF and FIFA since 1986 (five years after they achieved independence from the United Kingdom).
With a population just shy of 400,000 (the smallest in the whole of Central America), The Jaguars were long viewed as one of the weaker teams in CONCACAF, with a record lowly placing of 201st in the FIFA rankings back in 2008. But things have markedly improved in recent years, with an impressive fourth-place finish in the 2013 Copa Centroamericana thanks to a surprise 2-1 victory over Nicaragua, widely considered the most significant result in the country’s footballing history.
This was followed by qualification to a first major international competition at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold, where they lost all three fixtures, including a 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica. They also achieved a record-high FIFA ranking of 114th in 2016 after a shock 1-1 draw at home to Canada. They have somewhat returned to normality in recent years and are currently ranked 178th.
Belize achieved qualification for this round by winning their Nations League C group, beating both Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands home and away without conceding a single goal. Followed by a 4-3 victory over French Guiana in the Nations League Play-in.
Coached by native Charlie Slusher, The Jaguars have achieved an outstanding five victories out of six games (with the other one ending in a draw) in his short tenure, albeit against nations that are not in the top 200 FIFA rankings and French Guiana, which are not FIFA members.
Nonetheless, there is reason for optimism for Slusher and his squad, which is comprised of players mainly from the Belize Premier League and predominantly from the clubs of Port Loyola, Verdes, Progresso, and San Pedro Pirates.
Striker Michael Salazar, who was the first Belizean player to play in Major League Soccer (for Montreal Impact and Houston Dynamo), is generally considered the country’s best player. However, he has not played for the national side in over a year due to contractual differences with the Football Federation, and it remains to be seen when or if he will return to the fold.
Regardless, The Jaguars possess a decent roster of talent, including strikers Krisean Lopez and Carlos Bernárdez, who plys his trade in the Honduran National League with C.D. Real Sociedad, free-scoring midfield Jordy Polanco and goalkeeper and captain Charles Tillett.
Costa Rica Team News
Defender Jeyland Mitchell was withdrawn late into the first leg on Friday due to injury so will miss this game, with Alexis Gamboa the likely deputy. Captain Francisco Calvo was also struggling with injury, and if he were to miss out, he would most likely be replaced by Juan Pablo Vargas.
Forwards Álvaro Zamora and Josimar Alcócer both came off the bench last week and scored, so they will be pushing for starts this time out. And with the play-off outcome essentially confirmed, Herrera might be tempted to give some fringe players a chance to impress.
Possible Starting 11
Sequeira; Gamboa, Faerrón, Calvo (C), Taylor, Aguilera, Bran, Lassiter; Alcocer, Ugalde, Zamora.
Head-to-Head History
Last week’s 7-0 defeat was Belize’s equal worst defeat in their history, and in the seven previous meetings between the two nations, La Sele has won every time. And with The Jaguars needing to overturn a seven-goal deficit to progress to the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, it will take a miracle worthy of Asclepius to progress.
Kick-off is tonight at 19:00 CDT (20:00 UTC−6) on March 25th at the Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica.
