Costa Rica beat Italy 1-0, confidently entered the round of 16
After Uruguay, it was Italy's turn to fall victim to the Costa Rica phenomenon. The CONCACAF team defeated the Azzurri 1-0 to become the first team to advance from Group D.
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| Costa Rica's victory indirectly sowed sorrow for the British |
Goal:Ruiz (44')
Defeating Uruguay, Costa Rica confidently entered the match against the Italian giant. It is worth mentioning that in addition to confidence, coach Jorge Luis Pinto's team also has impressive strength with a tight playing style based on a squad of strong players. Thanks to that, they created a balanced match against Italy, which has a habit of starting slowly. In the first 20 minutes, Costa Rica was the better team with 55% ball possession and several times threatening Buffon's goal.
Italy only regained control in the second half of the first half thanks to Pirlo's good coordination. It was the 35-year-old midfielder who created the best chance for Balotelli with a high pass that bypassed the entire Costa Rican defense. Unfortunately, Balotelli missed the ball over the opponent's goalkeeper. Not long after, Pirlo initiated the perfect attack, allowing Balotelli to unleash a powerful demi-volley. But this time, goalkeeper Navas successfully blocked it.
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| Pirlo had a disappointing match in front of a large number of Costa Rican players. |
The tit-for-tat game made the match quite interesting. At the end of the first half, it was Costa Rica's turn to put a lot of pressure on the Azzurri goal. In the 42nd minute, Duarte headed back almost past Buffon. The Italian defense was shaken by Costa Rica's fast attacks and Chiellini made an illegal block on Campbell in the box but the referee ignored it. However, Costa Rica's efforts were rewarded in the last minute of the first half. Bolanos made an accurate cross to Bryan Ruiz and this player jumped higher than Chiellini to head past Buffon. Once again, goal-line technology came into play when the ball was recognized as being on the goal line. The 1-0 scoreline accurately reflected Costa Rica's impressive performance and Italy's somewhat sluggish form.
The dire situation forced Coach Prandelli to strengthen his attack after the break. Cassano replaced Thiago Motta and the blue team attacked Costa Rica in search of a goal. However, the Italian attack was quite deadlocked against the opponent's tightly organized defense. Coach Prandelli's students therefore had no choice but to seek luck from long-range shots by Darmian or Pirlo. But this was a match in which Costa Rica's goalkeeper Navas played extremely well.
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Italy's helplessness led to a shocking 0-1 defeat against their CONCACAF opponents. Costa Rica once again made the world take their hats off to their impressive performance. With two consecutive wins, coach Jorge Luis Pinto's team officially won the right to continue in Group D "death". Not England or Italy, but Costa Rica is the death that spreads terror to the opponents in Group D.
LINEUP
Italy:Buffon, Abate, Barzagli, Chiellini, Darmian, De Rossi, Candreva (Insigne 56'), Pirlo, Motta (Cassano 46'), Marchisio (Cerci 69'), Balotelli.
Costa Rica:Navas, Gamboa, Duarte, Gonzalez, Umana, Diaz, Borges, Ruiz (Brenes 80'), Tejeda (Cubero 67'), Campbell (Urena 74'), Bolanos.
| Referee Osses did not handle the whistle well in this match. In the 43rd minute, Joel Campbell made a very bold break into the Italian penalty area. The defender Chiellini, in his helplessness, had to push Campbell down quite roughly. However, this clear foul by the Italian defender did not result in a penalty because referee Osses could not keep up with the play. Costa Rica was unfairly denied the opportunity to open the score but just one minute later they had the only goal from Ruiz |
