AL RAYYAN, Qatar (AP) – Costa Rica’s star core Keylor Navas, Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz created the history of national football in a memorable run until the quarterfinals of the 2014 World Cup.
All of them were still there on Tuesday, all with more than 100 games, key to New Zealand’s 1-0 win in an intercontinental World Cup playoff in Qatar.
They all won a return ticket to Doha for Costa Rica in November and their third consecutive World Cup tournament together.
“Today is a happy day,” said Navas, the captain and goalkeeper, whose stops at the end of the game have preserved the advantage obtained with Campbell’s goal in the third minute. “We played a lot of finals to be here, we played a lot of games in which we knew we couldn’t make any mistakes. And today has been another of those. “
Costa Rica completed a 32-nation World Cup line-up by resisting a New Zealand team that came together from the first setback to dominate possession and create more and better goal opportunities.
New Zealand pressed and Navas responded even after dropping 10 men during the final quarter of the match at the air-conditioned Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on the outskirts of Doha.
Two key decisions after the video review were against the Kiwis, nullifying a possible Chris Wood equalizer in the 39th and securing a red card in the 69th for a foul by Kosta Barbarouses. The midfielder was on the field for just nine minutes.
In the tense final stages, Navas got up to drive away a left footed shot from Clayton Lewis and went down to block Wood’s low shot.
He lifted Costa Rica to a World Cup spot that seemed unlikely after a slow start last year in the U.S. qualifying group of eight teams.
“This team shows what it’s like to be a Costa Rican. They never gave up, they always give 100% “, said coach Luis Fernando Suárez, whose players got four consecutive victories in February and March to get into the playoffs.
New Zealand failed again in the final qualifying round. The Kiwis ’last defeat in the intercontinental playoffs followed the outings against Mexico for the 2014 tournament and Peru four years later.
Costa Rica coach Suarez scored his own hat-trick at the World Cup. He previously took Ecuador to the 2006 tournament and led Honduras there in 2014.
“It’s an obsession I’ve always pursued. Being in that position is beautiful, “Suarez said.
The order for the World Cup is waiting, as Suárez and his team will face two of the last three champions of Group E. Spain is the first rival on November 23, then Japan and Germany.
Costa Rica scored from their first attack when Campbell, the former Arsenal striker, moved between two defenders near the penalty spot to find a low cross from teenage Jewison Bennette. Campbell fired a low left-footed shot into the far corner of the net.
A place in the World Cup was the perfect gift for Bennette, who turns 18 on Wednesday.
American football now coincides with the traditional power of South America by having four teams in the last of the 32 nations of the World Cup.
Costa Rica joins Canada, the United States and Mexico, the three co-hosts of the expanded 48-team tournament in 2026, which advanced directly into the regional standings in March.
Peru’s defeat to Australia on Monday in Qatar meant that the South American challenge is only Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and, for now, Ecuador.
Ecuador’s place is being challenged by Chile in a dispute over an alleged ineligible player. Chile is targeting an appeal after FIFA closed a disciplinary investigation last week.
Chile’s pending appeal means Tuesday’s playoffs are not yet the last word in the World Cup lineup and not even the last game of the three-year global qualifying program.
FIFA has ordered Brazil and Argentina to play their abandoned game again last September in chaotic scenes. Brazilian health officials came to the field to dispute the quarantine status of some Argentine players.
The last official qualifier is scheduled for September 22, just two months before November 21 in December. Tournament 18.
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