Costa Rica produced a clinical 6-1 victory (13-1 on aggregate) over Belize on Tuesday night in San José, which confirmed their place at the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup. In team news, coach Miguel Herrera, marking his home debut in charge, made five changes from last week’s 7-0 first-leg win in Belize, with Alexis Gamboa, Gerald Taylor, Joseph Mora, Alejandro Bran and Josimar Alcócer replacing Fernán Faerrón, Carlos Mora, Ariel Lassiter, Orlando Galo and Brandon Aguilera, as Herrera opted for an even more offensive line-up than the away leg.
First-half
Los Ticos started from where they left off on Friday and opened the scoring after just 53 seconds when Belize defender Donell Eric Arzú headed into his own goal after being caught under a speculative Francisco Calvo diagonal ball. Five minutes later, the score was doubled when Alejandro Bran’s rasping long-distance strike went straight through the ambushed Belize keeper Brandon Anderson, a goal he won’t want to watch again!
A third quickly followed through the ever-involved Alonso Martínez, who empathically dispatched Kenneth Vargas’s smart cut back into the roof of the net from 12 yards out. With La Sele three goals up after just eight minutes and 10-0 on aggregate, a score resembling a rugby game was on the cards. So, Belize deserves credit for steadying the ship somewhat after a calamitous opening by not conceding for the next 28 minutes.
In that time, the first negative moment transpired for the hosts when defender Gerald Taylor hobbled off injured. Visibly distraught about another injury just weeks after overcoming one, let’s hope this is not as serious as it looked. Manfred Ugalde ended the relative dry spell in proceedings, adding a fourth with a perfectly placed looping header from an exquisite Joseph Mora cross.
Second-half
At the break, Herrera made three changes, bringing on Álvaro Zamora, Santiago van der Putten, and Randy Vega for his international debut. And the multiple substitutions might have caused some indecision as just minutes after the restart, Belize pulled a goal back when a comical mix-up between Gamboa and Calvo allowed Carlos Bernárdez to sweep the ball home into an empty net.
It’s hard to be too critical after such a dominant overall display, but I’m sure such a rudimentary error is not something El Piojo wants to happen again. In the 65th minute, Bran notched up a fifth, another long-distance screamer, an even better strike than the first, when his dipping effort from 35 yards out flashed past the helpless Anderson into the top left-hand corner.
Four minutes later, two substitutes, Andy Rojas and Zamora, combined with the latter, smartly finishing on the turn, continuing his impressive goal-scoring form of three goals in two matches. That rounded off the goals but ensured Costa Rica progressed to June’s CONCACAF Gold Cup with an exceptional 13-1 aggregate scoreline.
Player Ratings
1) Patrick Sequeira – 7/10
2) Gerald Taylor – 7/10
3) Jeyland Mitchell – 8/10
6) Alexis Gamboa – 6.5/10
15) Francisco Calvo (C) – 7.5/10
8) Joseph Mora – 8/10
19) Kenneth Vargas – 7.5/10
16) Alejandro Bran – 9/10 (MOTM)
20) Josimar Alcócer – 7.5/10
9) Manfred Ugalde – 8.5/10
17) Alonso Martínez – 8.5/10
Substitutes
22) Carlos Mora (30th minute for Gerald Taylor) – 8/10
12) Randy Vega (46th minute for Kenneth Vargas) – 7/10
21) Álvaro Zamora (46th minute for Alonso Martínez) – 8/10
13) Santiago van der Putten (46th minute for Jeyland Mitchell) – 7/10
7) Andy Rojas (63rd minute for Manfred Ugalde) – 7.5/10
Coach
Miguel Herrera – 8.5/10
He will be upset not to keep another clean sheet, as well as the shoddy lapse in concentration that caused it, but scoring six, albeit against a weak opponent, is still a big positive. He has the team playing assertive, offensive football, and Tico fans should be excited to see how this transpires against tougher opposition.
Many players who have not shown their full potential at international level, such as Álvaro Zamora, Alonso Martínez, and Kenneth Vargas, look perfectly suited to his strong attacking ethos, which bodes well for the future as well.
Next time out, Costa Rica will head to the Bahamas for a World Cup qualification match on June 7th.
