The National Men’s Football Team of Costa Rica scored a valuable victory last night at the Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama. Two goals by team captain Bryan Ruiz and striker Marco Ureña gave joy to the numerous fans of Costa Rica who traveled to Panama for the match, the final World Cup qualifier for La Sele this year.

It was a challenging match for La Sele against Panama, a National Team that is quickly earning a lot of respect within CONCACAF, thanks in great part to the dedication of veteran Colombian coach Hernan Gomez, known as Bolillo. Under the tutelage of Mr. Gomez, Panama has emerged as a scrappy rival for La Sele, particularly on World Cup qualifiers.

Costa Rica arrived with a battered team. Star goalkeeper Keylor Navas of the stellar Real Madrid Football Club was just one of the various injured players. In the previous World Cup qualifier match against Haiti, striker Johan Venegas suffered a broken nose and bruised jaw, while defender Oscar Duarte tore a right-calf muscle. Midfielder Celso Borges was also injured with a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot.

For the match against Panama, managing coach Oscar Ramirez did not feature an offensive lineup as he did against Haiti. In fact, the strategy in the first half was mostly defensive and even taunting at times. The Panamanian players are known to play very physically in the first half, and last night was no exception. By the end of the match, six yellow cards had been pulled out. Costa Rica parked the bus very deep after the second goal, and still Panama was able to narrow the difference to just one.

All in all, the substitutions by coach Ramirez paid off, and La Sele can now rest with six valuable points on the road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The next matches will not take place until March 2016 against Jamaica and Haiti, two Caribbean teams that are itching to gain a World Cup spot.