With a final score of 2-1 against Guatemala, the players National Men’s Footbal Team of Costa Rica (affectionately known as La Sele) have once again proven that they are the best in Central America and one of the strongest teams in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

 

The match took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Southern California, where fans of the National Men’s Footbal Team of Guatemala predominantly outnumbered the Ticos. With this victory, Costa Rica has won the Central American Cup, more commonly known by its Spanish initials UNCAF, eight times. The 2014 Tigo Central American Cup is the sixth consecutive time Costa Rica has made it to the UNCAF finals.

 

Guatemala clearly dominated the early minutes of the match with incursions to the box and surprising counterattacks. The strong defense that Costa Rica displayed at the recent World Cup in Brazil has been missing under interim coach Paulo Wanchope, and at the 23^rd minute mark a frustrated Roy Miller fouled Carlos Ruiz as he made his way to the goalposts. Ruiz took care of the penalty kick and opened the scoreboard for Guatemala.

 

Five minutes later, a masterful free kick executed by Brian Ruiz brought respite to La Sele. At the 55-minute mark, Juan Bustos launched a rocket from outside of the box to put Costa Rica ahead. At that point, La Sele parked the bus, although there were a couple of scary moments when the offside trap did not seem to work as planned. By winning this tournament, Costa Rica has earned a spot at the prestigious Copa America next year.

 

An Exciting and Promising Tournament

This edition of the Central American Cup did not leave fans disappointed. La Sele did its best to draw talented players who are busy in their respective seasons in clubs around the world, and teams such as Panama were able to call up their very best.

 

CONCACAF analysts have remarked that the 2014 Tigo Central American Cup has been the most exciting yet, and a strong reason for these remarks is that teams such as Belize, Nicaragua and Panama have greatly increased their level of play in the region.

 

Football has been the top sport in Costa Rica for several decades; this has not been the case in Belize, Nicaragua and Panama, at least not until the last few years. The visible progress that the National Football Team of Belize has achieved drew a lot of positive comments from analysts and sports journalists.