As World Cup fever sweeps the world, residents and tourists in Guanacaste recently learned about plans to bring a friendly football match to Liberia. Such are the intentions of Eduardo Li, who presides over the Costa Rican Football Federation (Spanish acronym: FEDEFUTBOL). For this match, the National Football Team could play against their counterparts from Chile, Ecuador or even Honduras.

According to Marcos Urena from Guanacaste online news website Primero en Noticias, scheduling the friendly match to be played at the stadium in Liberia is Mr. Li’s way of showing gratitude for the efficiency shown by local officials as hosts of the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.

Depending on the National Football Team’s training schedule en route to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the friendly match in Guanacaste would take place sometime in April. The starting roster for Costa Rica in that game may also be slightly different than the lineup that will be facing Chile in just a few days.

Training Rosters for Costa Rica

Speaking to FEDEFUTBOL, team manager Jorge Luis Pinto said that he was pretty certain that agile players such as Meneses, Cubero and Hernandez will be starting against Chile. A pleasant surprise for many fans is the announcement of striker McDonald joining the National Football Team upon his return from Europe.

McDonald, who plays for current champion Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA), is known as an opportunistic striker who will exploit any scoring chance. At LDA, he is affectionately called “McGol.” Rival team managers and defensive coaching staff members from England, Italy and Uruguay will very likely keep a close eye on McDonald, who did not play in the exciting qualification matches that wrote Costa Rica’s ticket to this year’s World Cup in Brazil.

After matching up twice with Chile, the National Football Team of Costa Rica will prepare to play another friendly against the fast-and-rough National Team of the Republic of Korea.