Football is by far Costa Rica’s favorite sport, so it's not surprising that 2014 will be remembered as a year of impressive performances by both "Las Ticas" and "Los Ticos."
Argentina’s Ricardo “El Tigre” Gareca, 56, the former coach of Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield, is the frontrunner to become Costa Rica’s new head coach for the national football team, known as “La Sele.”
Costa Rica’s national football team, known as "La Sele," won its last match of the year with a nail-biting victory over Uruguay in a penalty shootout Thursday night in Montevideo following an action-packed 3-3 draw.
The newspaper’s cover referred to Dinnia Díaz – the goalkeeper of the Costa Rican Women’s National Soccer Team, which just qualified for the Women’s World Cup for the first time in history – as “Keylar.” (This allusion to renowned male Costa Rican keeper Keylor Navas is roughly akin to referring to a women’s basketball star as “Michelle Jordan.”)
Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas became a global superstar in sports this year following his stellar performance at the World Cup in Brazil, his signing with the legendary football club Real Madrid, and a nod this week with Spain's Best Goalkeeper award for the 2013-2014 season. But a bizarre case back home involving illegal prying into his personal life by law enforcement officials has him in the spotlight again, for all the wrong reasons.
Tico goalie Keylor Navas on Monday evening won Spain’s Best Goalkeeper award at the Professional Football League Awards ceremony for the 2013-2014 season.
In a hard-fought match marked by an aggressive host team and a less-than-stellar performance by the visiting U.S. squad Sporting Kansas City, Costa Rica’s Saprissa qualified Thursday night for the quarterfinals of CONCACAF’s Champions League. Saprissa beat Kansas City 2-0 in a San José stadium packed with energetic Tico fans showing their purple pride.
Las Ticas moved forward with a perfect 3-0-0 record that allowed them to finish on top of Group B in a tournament that will award three direct spots for FIFA’s World Cup in Canada next year.
The Costa Rican national women's football team on Thursday night shocked favorites Mexico, a team that came into the CONCACAF Group B opening match at full throttle and expecting to score early.
