Wow!! I love sports. I will generally watch most any sport at any given time. I’ve watched cricket in New Zealand, ruby in Australia and soccer in Costa Rica. I have never, however, seen such passion and joy as the Costa Ricans after Costa Rica (La Sele) beat Italy in this years World Cup. Costa Rica World Cup team has shocked the soccer world!
Celebration in Costa Rica after Costa Rica defeated Italy in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Photo Alberto Font/The Tico Times
Costa Rica was put in one of the two “Group of Death” (the USA is in another one of the groups), with Italy, Uruguay and England. Italy and Uruguay each had teams ranked in the Top 10 of the world by FIFA going into the World Cup. Costa Rica found a way to beat them both, in consecutive matches. Although the entire country of Costa Rica has a population of 4.5 million people, they have found a way to take down two of the titans of soccer (by way of comparison the city of Rome has 2.7 million people).
I’m sharing an article from The Tico Times for the whole story.
Vamos a Sele!!
Nick
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Original Article http://www.ticotimes.net/2014/06/20/in-costa-rica-one-big-party-following-spectacular-world-cup-win
A sea of red jerseys and Costa Rican flags inundated the main streets and avenues of the country’s capital – and across the nation – on Friday following Costa Rica’s incredible advancement to the next round of the World Cup Brazil 2014 after beating Italy 1-0.
The San José streets were deserted during the nail-biting morning match, but when the final whistle blew, declaring the Ticos at the top of the so-called Group of Death, a throng of Sele supporters took to the city’s main plazas to celebrate the historic triumph.
Costa Rica won the hard-fought battle on a Bryan Ruiz goal in the first half, the game’s only goal.
President Luis Guillermo Solís, dressed in a red Sele shirt, walked from the Casa Presidencial to the Fuente de la Hispanidad roundabout in the east of the capital, a traditional meeting point for civic celebrations.
Elated fans surrounded the president, embracing him and blasting vuvuzelas to celebrate Costa Rica’s second victory in as many World Cup matches, after shocking the world earlier in the tournament by beating higher-ranked Uruguay 3-1.
“I told you, 1-0,” Solís tweeted, reminding Ticos he had predicted the outcome.
“It was a historic triumph, nobody expected it, and when I say nobody, I’m talking about the entire planet. Costa Rica won because they were mentally focused, they believed in themselves and there was unity among the squad,” Sele fan Dennis Alonso, 26, said after the match.
In San Pedro, east of the capital, Lorna Contreras, 69, carried red, white and blue balloons, along with the Costa Rican flag, while cars passed by blasting their horns in elation.
“This is just marvelous. We’ve all waited for this, because we’ve been watching [this team] progress. We beat two World Cup champions, and now we’ll beat another,” Contreras said, referring to La Sele’s upcoming match Tuesday against England.
One local TV station broadcast an image of a Tico who traveled to Brazil to see the match. The fan held a sign that said, “Jefe, I quit my job. I’m staying to watch the second round.”