Costa Rica makes history
Saturday, October 10th, 2009Costa Rica’s U-20 team made history and advanced to the semifinals of the U-20 World Cup after defeating the UAE 2-1 after extra time. The winning goal was scored by Marco Ureña in the final minute of the second extra time period, after a backpass gone horribly wrong in the UAE defense.
This is the farthest any Costa Rican national team has advanced to the semifinals of an international competition, and the third time a CONCACAF team has progressed to the semifinals of a U-20 World Cup (Mexico in 1977 and USA in 1989).
It’s too bad this U-20 competition is happening at the same time as the World Cup qualifiers. Costa Rica could definitely use these players in the senior lineup, although there is a chance some of the U-20s might appear if the Ticos fall into the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff.
