The National Women’s Football Team of Costa Rica is currently undefeated at the Istria Cup in Croatia, and this distinction can be greatly attributed to the performance of star goalkeeper Dinnia Diaz. While playing a highly contested match against the French National Team, Ms. Diaz once again proved that she is one of the most reliable goalkeepers when it comes to stopping penalty kicks. As reported by Juan Diego Villareal of national newspaper La Nacion, Ms. Diaz showed extreme confidence as she spectacularly flew and stopped the penalty kick executed by French star striker Marina Makanza.

 

As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, stopping penalty kicks is something that Ms. Diaz has been developing as a specialty. During the qualifier matches for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be played in Canada, Ms. Diaz stopped all three penalty shots during a kickoff against Trinidad and Tobago, thus allowing the National Women’s Team to enter the tournament for the first time in history.

 

Speaking to La Nacion, Ms. Diaz shed some details about her knack as a penalty kick specialist:

 

“With penalty kicks, you can only apply experience and lessons learned for the purpose of guessing where the shot is coming from so that it can be stopped. You try to give it your best in these warm-up matches because the FIFA Women’s World Cup is upon us, and we want to make it an excellent performance.”

 

Coach Amelia Valverde mentioned that the match against France was of greater difficulty in comparison to the match against Bosnia, which Las Ticas won 1-0. The match was intense and dynamic, and the players from Costa Rica were able to gradually adjust and keep the French players in check; alas, Las Ticas were not able to score against a tactical defense. The next match will be against Wales this Monday.