There are still 100 days to go before the World Cup, and this Time I am still optimistic about this former dark horse.
Costa Rica, one of the least favoured teams in the World Cup of '14, was placed in the death group of England, Italy and Uruguay, a team that had never reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup, and had to face three teams that had won the World Cup four times. It seems that everyone in the world, except for costa Ricans, thinks they will be out at the bottom.
But football is full of miracles, 3:1 against Uruguay, 1:0 victory over Italy, an early round of qualifying, which impressed the world. The round of 16 eliminated Greece in the quarterfinals through a penalty shootout, creating the best record in history. The quarter-finals faced the wild bombardment of the Netherlands and once again dragged the game into a penalty shootout, although the defeat was still glorious.
History is always strikingly similar, and after 8 years, Costa Rica is once again in the death group, this time facing Spain, Germany and Japan. Although the squad is already weaker than the 14-year World Cup, many of the main players at that time have also aged. People can grow old, but Costa Rica's tenacious fighting spirit has never aged, and a generation of young players have taken over the baton of dark horses and continue to prepare to write a new history belonging to Costa Rica at the World Cup.
