In a warm-up match for the Qatar tournament on Wednesday in San Jose, Costa Rica defeated Nigeria’s Super Eagles 2-0, demonstrating that they were prepared for the World Cup.
Oscar Duarte opened the score for the hosts after seven minutes. The team was scheduled to leave on their trip to the 2022 event in Qatar later on Thursday.
In the 73rd minute in San Jose, Kendall Watson secured the victory over Nigeria, who had been eliminated from the World Cup.
However, Keylor Navas, the goalkeeper for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), was expected to join the team at a later time, thus coach Fernando Suarez did not have all of the World Cup players on board.
The Costa Rican team that advanced to the quarterfinals in 2014 and was ousted there by the Netherlands on penalties included Navas and seasoned captain Bryan Ruiz.
The team’s final practise match against Iran is scheduled for next Thursday in Baghdad before they arrive in Qatar the following day. The team will leave later on Thursday for Kuwait.
On Nov. 23, Costa Rica will face Spain in their opening group game, with Japan and Germany as their other opponents.
By defeating New Zealand in an intercontinental play-off, Suarez’s team had earned a spot.
