MEXICO CITY, 17 August 2005 — Costa Rica will try to make history repeat itself when they visit Mexico for a World Cup qualifier today, four years after a historic win at the Azteca stadium.
The Central Americans inflicted Mexico’s first home defeat in a World Cup match at the arena when Hernan Medford’s late goal gave them a 2-1 win in the match played in June 2001. The result left Mexico struggling to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and they only secured their place by beating Honduras in their last qualifier. This time the story is very different. Mexico, fresh from beating Brazil at the Confederations Cup, lead the final stage of the marathon CONCACAF qualifying competition with 13 points from five games and look certain to qualify for next year’s finals with matches to spare. They have already beaten the Costa Ricans away, winning 2-1 in San Jose in February.
Costa Rica, meanwhile, are third with seven points but their performances have been unconvincing and they needed last-minute goals to beat Panama and Guatemala at home. The top three in the six-team group qualify directly for Germany and the fourth plays off against the fifth-placed Asian side.
The Costa Rican squad includes four players — Paulo Wanchope, Jervis Drummond, Steven Bryce and Gilberto Martinez — who played four years ago as well as Brazilian-born coach Alexandre Guimaraes.
“Mexico have always been tough opponents,” said Wanchope, who is Costa Rica’s joint leading all-time scorer with 42 goals alongside Rolando Fonseca.
“But Costa Rica are among the favorites to qualify for the World Cup and we have to demonstrate this on the field.
“We’re ready to win anywhere... Now, we’re going to win again in Mexico.” Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe is equally determined to avoid a repetition. “They have to feel what the Azteca’s all about, not just the altitude,” he said. Mexico are at full strength for the match although La Volpe has again left out volatile striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who has not been picked since he withdrew from the Confederations Cup squad because he was tired.
