Costa Rica continues rise to the top

The Runners-up in the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championships 2015 have even higher sights in mind after a great 2015

After participating in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015, the Costa Rican National Selection returned home to train, but in a massive re-haul, the team looks much different but just as focused on qualifying for the next World Cup in the Bahamas in 2017. The head coach, Franklin Zúñiga, did not waste any time starting the practices, and one month after their exit from the World Cup, new beach sessions began. The work has been intensive and the same goal is still in mind, form an ultra competitive team for their upcoming events. 

Los Ticos sent a team of 12 highly skilled players to Portugal but of those 12, only three were able to be in the first camps after their World Cup Group Stage exit. “It would have been ideal to start with a base of at least half of the National Selection players but we have the same plans and goals nonetheless”, noted  Coach Zúñiga. The process of making a team from almost scratch may prove to be a blessing as the team will have some leadership, some new faces, and only the most dedicated of players all buying into the coaches’ now proven methods.

The coach will have to cut down his list of hopeful players to 18 before eventually choosing 12 for the final roster for the CONCACAF Qualifier and possibly the World Cup, but Zúñiga says, “I am very happy with the guys we have here practicing with our National Selection. They all wat to be here and learn and that is the most important for me.” The three returning players must shoulder a bigger load, but those players, Danny Johnson, Greivin Pacheco, an Niels Fallas, were standouts on their last World Cup side and are up to the task. 

The Costa Ricans are happily training but they know that much of their success will be based on their upcoming tournament invites as the coach points out, “We need to see the international competition to know what we must do in the coming seasons to ensure our National Selection makes it through the Qualifiers again.” The team will be training multiple times every week at the Complejo Deportivo FEDEFUTBOL – PLYCEM in hopes of reaching even higher in 2016 and ’17. The work is far from over but the Costa Ricans already shocked the region by upsetting the El Salvadorians in 2015 and 2016 is beginning to look like Los Ticos are still on the rise.