Valiant Costa Rica effort comes up just short against Germany

A valiant effort from Costa Rica ended with a 4-2 defeat to Germany in their final match of Group E of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on Thursday night at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

According to CONCACAF, the Ticos finished the tournament with three points and a fourth-place finish in the group.

The result is also the exact same score line that the two teams shared when they met in the opening match at Germany 2006, CONCACAF said.

It said Germany enjoyed “a strong start and held a 1-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes when David Raum played in a cross that was headed in by Serge Gnabry for a 1-0 Germany lead.

“Costa Rica looked to get back on level terms, but found it quite difficult against an organized German defense,” CONCACAF said.

Nevertheless, it said “there were moments when the Ticos did find space and Joel Campbell was a whisker away from getting on the end of a Bryan Oviedo cross in front of the German goal in the 28’”.

That was followed by Keysher Fuller nearly finding his second goal of the night in the 42’, “when some miscommunication among the German defense gifted a chance to the Tico hero versus Japan, but his shot rocketed over the crossbar,” CONCACAF said.

It said “Costa Rica came to life in the second half and pulled level 1-1 in the 58’ when Germany GK Manuel Neuer could not handle a header and Yeltsin Tejeda was there to pounce on the rebound.”

After a Germany shot hit off the post, CONCACAF said Costa Rica was “back at it and brought their fans to their feet when a mad scramble in front of the Germany goal allowed Juan Pablo Vargas to sneak in and score for a 2-1 Costa Rica lead.

“But back came the Germans, who responded with a pair of goals from Kai Havertz in the 73’ and the 85’ to re-take the lead at 3-2,” CONCACAF said.
It said Niclas Fullkrug then “tacked on” a fourth goal in the 89’ to complete the 4-2 score line.