Beadling Boy
13 Jul 2005, 05:48 PM
Here are a couple of translations from today’s Costa Rican papers:
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2005/julio/13/
UNITED STATES 0 – COSTA RICA 0: A WHITE-GLOVE TIE
by Gustavo Jimenez M
La Nacion
Neither team wanted to show its hand. With tickets to the quarterfinals assured, United States and Costa Rica “negotiated” a boring tie which rewarded the good work by both defenses.
Bruce Arena’s team was able to utilize the point to maintain first place in the group. However, they did concede a very long, 18-game winning streak during the first round of this and previous Gold Cups.
Costa Rica, for its part, was satisfied for not turning in a performance such as the one they did in Utah. The defense applied itself in order not to repeat the errors of that previous match and kept Uncle Sam’s squad silenced.
We have historically performed so poorly in matches in the United States, that a 0-0 helps the team’s self-esteem.
In any event, coming into this game already qualified for the next round, changed the priorities – More than going for the three points, the idea was to fine tune the tactic which will be used in the quarterfinal duel.
This scenario saw thousands of Ticos who traveled to observe the Tricolor. But, they did not get to see the best version possible. Instead, they witnessed a team in gestation – a laboratory of men and systems that is still in the trial-and-error stage.
Yesterday, however, the Costa Rican national team had to play against another laboratory because Bruce Arena also rotated players and even saved DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan, the engines of his squad, on the bench. By the time they entered the match during the second half, the 0-0 had already been seared onto the scoreboard.
Costa Rica was late in getting into the match. Prudence dominated the first minutes of the game with exception of an Oscar Rojas shot in the early going. It was clear that the first order of business was to assure that everything in the back line was under lock and chain and only then one could venture into the attack.
The Tico defense quickly “solved” Patrick Noonan and Clint Dempsey, the local squad’s sharpshooters. Neither of them have the spark to win a one-on-one. Their strength is to execute, from memory, movements that they have practiced in dozens of training sessions.
On this occasion the mechanical soccer, which is not pretty but is efficient, was not successful. The Costa Rican defense imposed itself over the U.S. attack and when the back four leaked, Jose Francisco Porras converted himself into a frontier without access.
Up front, Costa Rica had less chances to succeed. The experimental rival defense was able to catch Randall Brenes easily. Meanwhile, Oscar Rojas enjoyed a more protagonist role but he lacked support.
A match like this should be measured with a different ruler. Without the need to try to win points, this evolved into more of a scrimmage to prepare for the quarterfinals.
There was too much white-glove play. The real competition returns on Saturday.
http://www.prensalibre.co.cr/2005/julio/13/deportes01.php
Snippets from the match article in La Prensa Libre:
THE NATS FINISHED UNDEFEATED!
“From the initial whistle from Benito Armando Archundia, Uncle Sam’s team proved better on the pitch, controlling the ball and manipulating the marionette strings of the game. Nonetheless, with each passing minute, our nats gained confidence and, in an intelligent manner, they began to control the movement.”
Later in the article:
“In the last minutes of the first half, the nats vibrant play declined conceding the ball to its foe which attacked against Porras’ goal. The Americans injected courage and pressed the accelerator in search of the game’s opening tally while the keeper in purple imposed himself between the pipes.”
Last paragraph:
“Bruce Arena’s pupils pressed with everything they could near the end of the match with the intention of marking the triumphant goal, but they could not decipher the lock that Alexandre Guimaraes placed on his defensive line.”
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2005/julio/13/
UNITED STATES 0 – COSTA RICA 0: A WHITE-GLOVE TIE
by Gustavo Jimenez M
La Nacion
Neither team wanted to show its hand. With tickets to the quarterfinals assured, United States and Costa Rica “negotiated” a boring tie which rewarded the good work by both defenses.
Bruce Arena’s team was able to utilize the point to maintain first place in the group. However, they did concede a very long, 18-game winning streak during the first round of this and previous Gold Cups.
Costa Rica, for its part, was satisfied for not turning in a performance such as the one they did in Utah. The defense applied itself in order not to repeat the errors of that previous match and kept Uncle Sam’s squad silenced.
We have historically performed so poorly in matches in the United States, that a 0-0 helps the team’s self-esteem.
In any event, coming into this game already qualified for the next round, changed the priorities – More than going for the three points, the idea was to fine tune the tactic which will be used in the quarterfinal duel.
This scenario saw thousands of Ticos who traveled to observe the Tricolor. But, they did not get to see the best version possible. Instead, they witnessed a team in gestation – a laboratory of men and systems that is still in the trial-and-error stage.
Yesterday, however, the Costa Rican national team had to play against another laboratory because Bruce Arena also rotated players and even saved DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan, the engines of his squad, on the bench. By the time they entered the match during the second half, the 0-0 had already been seared onto the scoreboard.
Costa Rica was late in getting into the match. Prudence dominated the first minutes of the game with exception of an Oscar Rojas shot in the early going. It was clear that the first order of business was to assure that everything in the back line was under lock and chain and only then one could venture into the attack.
The Tico defense quickly “solved” Patrick Noonan and Clint Dempsey, the local squad’s sharpshooters. Neither of them have the spark to win a one-on-one. Their strength is to execute, from memory, movements that they have practiced in dozens of training sessions.
On this occasion the mechanical soccer, which is not pretty but is efficient, was not successful. The Costa Rican defense imposed itself over the U.S. attack and when the back four leaked, Jose Francisco Porras converted himself into a frontier without access.
Up front, Costa Rica had less chances to succeed. The experimental rival defense was able to catch Randall Brenes easily. Meanwhile, Oscar Rojas enjoyed a more protagonist role but he lacked support.
A match like this should be measured with a different ruler. Without the need to try to win points, this evolved into more of a scrimmage to prepare for the quarterfinals.
There was too much white-glove play. The real competition returns on Saturday.
http://www.prensalibre.co.cr/2005/julio/13/deportes01.php
Snippets from the match article in La Prensa Libre:
THE NATS FINISHED UNDEFEATED!
“From the initial whistle from Benito Armando Archundia, Uncle Sam’s team proved better on the pitch, controlling the ball and manipulating the marionette strings of the game. Nonetheless, with each passing minute, our nats gained confidence and, in an intelligent manner, they began to control the movement.”
Later in the article:
“In the last minutes of the first half, the nats vibrant play declined conceding the ball to its foe which attacked against Porras’ goal. The Americans injected courage and pressed the accelerator in search of the game’s opening tally while the keeper in purple imposed himself between the pipes.”
Last paragraph:
“Bruce Arena’s pupils pressed with everything they could near the end of the match with the intention of marking the triumphant goal, but they could not decipher the lock that Alexandre Guimaraes placed on his defensive line.”