Costa Rica may not have England's claim as the birthplace of modern soccer or Brazil's possession of five World Cup titles, but it does have another claim to fame. The tiny Central American nation has the highest percentage of soccer players in the world; at 27 percent of the population it's ahead of Germany's 20 percent. A million "Ticos," as Costa Ricans refer to themselves, are officially registered as players with the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol. "Ticos eat, drink and sleep soccer," notes the "Let's Go Costa Rica" travel guide, and a community in Costa Rica cannot legally be considered a political district unless it has a soccer field in the middle of town.
Founding
In 1887, a man named Pinto Oscar Fernandez returned home from England with a soccer ball, notes Costa Rica's football federation website. At the same time, the children of wealthy coffee growers were going to England to study and returning with a passion for the sport. They were joined by English industrialists who installed streetcars in the capital, San Jose. The years 1904-06 saw the establishment of football clubs to promote team play. The national league came into being on June 13, 1921, and in 1927, Costa Rica joined FIFA, the international governing body of soccer.
Golden Age
Soccer flourished in Costa Rica from the 1930s through the 1960s, which author Fernando Naranjo Madrigal calls "the Golden Age" in his 1988 history of Costa Rican futbol. But the golden age was really just around the corner, as Seleccion Nacional, its men's team nicknamed "La Sele," qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
1990 World Cup
La Sele arrived in Genoa with famed Serbian rent-a-coach Bora Milutinovic, who had earlier done well with Mexico and would later coach the U.S., Nigeria and China. On June 11, 1990, Costa Rica in its maiden cup game shocked Scotland 1-0 on a goal by Juan Cayasso in 49th minute. La Sele lost 1-0 to Brazil five days later but prepared to face heavy favorite Sweden on June 20. Clemente Angelo Lisi in "The History of the World Cup" describes how Sweden took the lead in the opening half. Milutinovic placed forward Hernan Medford into the game in the 62nd minute, and the emboldened Ticos surged into a tie on a header by Roger Flores in the 75th minute. With three minutes to play, Medford ran 40 yards untouched and got a goal past keeper Thomas Ravelli. The 2-1 victory was "a shocker of seismic proportions," Lisi writes, and "the small nation became the unlikeliest team to advance to the round of 16," where it lost to Czechoslovakia 4-1.
Other Contests
1990 proved to be a high-water mark. Costa Rica returned to the World Cup in 2002; beating China 2-0, tying Turkey 1-1 and being thumped by Brazil 5-2 in group play. In 2006, Costa Rica struggled, losing to host nation Germany 4-2, to Ecuador 3-0 and to Poland 2-1. Within the region including North America, Central America and the Caribbean, Costa Rica has won the CONCACAF Championship in 1963 and 1969 and finished as runner-up in the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup. As of the 2000s, famous professional Costa Rican players include Paulo Cesar Wanchope, formerly at Manchester City, and Winston Parks, formerly at Udinese.
References
- FIFA.com: Costa Rica
- "Let's Go Costa Rica"; Let's Go; 2008
- Federacion CostaRicense de Futbol: Historia del Futbol en Costa Rica; June 19, 2009
- "Latin American Sport: An Annotated Bibliography, 1988-1998"; Joseph Arbena; 1999
- The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation: Costa Rica - List of International Matches
- FIFA.com: GOAL Programme - Federación Costarricense de Fútbol - 2009
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