Costa Rica will repeat World Cup 2014 heroics in Russia, says bullish Francisco Calvo

Bullish: Francisco Calvo
AFP/Getty Images
Michael Cooper7 June 2018

Costa Rica are confident they can repeat their remarkable run to the quarter-finals of the last World Cup at this summer’s tournament.

The Central Americans, who are England’s opponents for Thursday's friendly at Elland Road, topped England’s group at Brazil 2014 and marched to the last eight before they were knocked out by Holland.

In their first-round group in Russia, Costa Rica face Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia.

They have players who are in Europe’s top leagues, including Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas and forward Joel Campbell, who has had loan spells at Villarreal, Sporting Lisbon and Real Betis.

“Over the years, Costa Rica have proved that we’re a good team. When we meet a team like Uruguay, Italy or Spain, we always perform well and we’ve beaten some of the best teams in the world,” said defender Francisco Calvo.

“It’s no coincidence that we reached the quarter-finals at the last World Cup.

“We’ve set ourselves a really high bar to reach but the world sees us differently now. Hopefully, we can continue on the same path in Russia.”

Costa Rica and Netherlands shake hands after their quarter-final in Brazil 2014
Getty Images

Calvo’s international team-mate Kendall Waston said: “The team have grown a lot recently and what people saw 10 years ago, even, is not like now.

“I think we’re now a better team than either Mexico or the USA. It’s helped that there are many players playing outside of Costa Rica.”

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