There was a long greeting line of happy faces waiting for Jose Mendez -- much like reception he no doubt will get when he returns to his native Costa Rica, after he won the 2013 Callaway Junior World Golf Championships. On Friday, Mendez accomplished what no other player from his country had in the 45 previous years and 404 champions crowned in the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships. He w...

The United States topped Group C thanks to a 1-0 win over Costa RIca on Tuesday night, but it wasn't easy. Using a five-man defense, the Ticos frustrated the Americans all night and turned the match into more of a continued scrum than soccer, but an 82nd minute strike by Brek Shea got the U.S. all three points. Very little in the first half could be described as "soccer." Costa Rica forced the ...

If Costa Rica’s professional surf scene had an A-team, it would look something like this: Carlos Muñoz, Jair Pérez, Noe Mar McGonagle, Gilbert Brown, Anthony Fillingim, Luis Vindas, Leilani McGonagle, Lisbeth Vindas, and Nataly Bernold. The nine top surfers seem to shuffle places between being national champions and taking the top five slots at any given competition, with the odd interloper upsett...

The U.S. men’s national team wraps up the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage against Costa Rica in Hartford on Tuesday, having already clinched their spot in the quarterfinals. Strangely, that means their toughest game yet will also be the least consequential. After steamrolling Belize 6-1 and beating Cuba 4-1, the Americans are assured of passage out of Group C. In Sunday’s quarterfinals in Ba...

The United States and Costa Rica both qualified for the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Saturday with victories in their Group C matches. In-form striker Chris Wondolowski scored twice to steer the Americans to a comfortable 4-1 win over Cuba while an own goal gifted Costa Rica a 1-0 victory over Belize. Wondolowski continued his red-hot form for the American national team with tw...

Source: FEDEFUTBOL CR After a shutout victory against Cuba, members of the Costa Rica National Football Team are ready to face their Belizean counterparts, who are in the midst of an investigation by the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) on bribes and nasty allegations of match fixing. Costa Rican fans will see a radically changed lineup of th...

A makeshift Costa Rica/United States flag arrangement flies in Portland. Source: Twitter The national football (or soccer, if you must go there) teams of Costa Rica and the United States delivered goal-fests against their respective Cuban and Belizean foes last night at the Jeld-Wen Field in Portland, Oregon. Fans who purchased tickets for both games were in football heaven: Costa Rica opened t...

Michael Barrantes scored a pair of second-half goals and Costa Rica defeated Cuba 3-0 Tuesday night in the opening round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Barrantes broke open a scoreless match with a left-footed goal from the top of the box that got past diving Cuban goalkeeper Odelin Molina in the 51st minute. He added another goal in the 77th minute after Jairo Arrieta's scored in the 71st, exten...

The Jaco Rays Club Sport Herediano (CSH) is the reigning champion of First Division football (or soccer for readers who insist) in Costa Rica, but that did not seem to prevent the second division team Jaco Rays from beating them during a visit by the champs to the beach. CSH traveled to the Garabito Stadium on Saturday night, and left with a loss to the Rays by a single goal. The goal by Jaco s...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (February 3, 2013) - For a team that just won a significant competition, Costa Rica did not have the luxury of time to savor its triumph. That's the way it goes on occasion in international football. There is always another game, another tournament and another mountain to climb. Last Sunday, the Ticos captured the UNCAF Copa Centroamericana - Central America's biennial cha...

As the NFL calendar season comes to an end with Super Bowl XLVII on February 3rd, the 2013 National Championship calendar season of the American Football Federation of Costa Rica (FEFACR) will have just kicked off. The league is entering into its 5th season as an organized sport, recognized by the Costa Rican Sports & Recreation Association (ICODER) and the International Federation of American Foo...

International debutants as late as 1995, Belize only made their first appearance in the Copa Centroamericana two years later. Since then they have always finished last in the regional tournament, organised by the Union Centroamericana de Futbol (UNCAF), the governing body of Central American football. In all that time Los Jaguares failed to win a single game in the competition. This unwanted re...

Host Costa Rica won the 2013 Copa Centroamericana with a 1-0 win over Honduras in the final. The match featured seven MLS players -- three for the Ticos and four for the Catrachos, who open the Hexagonal Feb. 6 at home against the USA. Giancarlo Gonzalez scored the game's lone goal in the 37th minute to give the Ticos their seventh UNCAF title. Real Salt Lake’s Alvaro Saborio and Portlan...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Defending champion Honduras will take on host Costa Rica in the final of the UNCAF Copa Centroaericana on Sunday. The Hondurans overcame upstart Belize in one semifinal, 1-0, on Friday night, while the Ticos stopped El Salvador by the same score at Estadio Nacional. El Salvador, which lost for the first time in the tournament after playing three group draws, will take ...

Recently The Costa Rica Star published an article about a new gym in Santa Ana Costa Rica called MC Gym. This gym is the mecca of hardcore training, with many machines, free weights, CrossFit area, and of course the owner of the gym is the National Olympic Lifting Champion of Costa Rica. Well, now MC Gym has become even more awesome, they recently added a set of well anchored punching ba...

Nosara’s popular fiestas are fast approaching and this year there are some new additions. One of the most exciting is the construction of a motocross track next to the bull ring. The track, built in one week, is 1.3 kilometers long, and the course includes the classic obstacles, although this particular track has the advantage of being completely level ground. In addition, it has some small s...

Guyana was routed 7-0 by Costa Rica in the final match of the world cup qualifiers in San Jose last night. AFP reported that Costa Rica needed a home victory over winless Guyana to ensure advancement and the Ticos struck quickly, Randall Brenes finding the net in the ninth minute and Cristian Gamboa adding another Costa Rican goal in the 13th minute. Brenes scored again AFP said in the secon...

If you are looking for a legitimate hardcore fitness location in Costa Rica, look no further than MC Gym in Santa Ana Costa Rica, 2 minutes North of Forum 1 Office center in Pozos de Santa Ana, take a right at the Lagar construction store down Calle El Lagar, drive 250 meters, and look to your right for the sign and parking lot (logo pictured above in this article). There is plenty of park...

By Simon Evans MIAMI | Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:20am EST MIAMI (Reuters) - LeBron James says he is engaged in a "vendetta" against himself as he pushes himself to reach his physical peak and win a second straight NBA championship with the Miami Heat. On Tuesday, James, last season's Most Valuable Playe...

MADRID | Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:23am EST MADRID (Reuters) - Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova has suffered a relapse on the cancer in his saliva glands, Spanish daily El Pais reported on Wednesday citing sources at the club. The 44-year-old Vilanova, who underwent surgery on a tumor in his glands in November last year, stepped up from his role as assistant to re...

By Keith Weir LONDON | Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:22am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Germany's Schalke 04 became the latest top European soccer club to go into partnership with online ticket vendor Viagogo on Wednesday, embracing a business that other sports argue is pricing fans out of stadiums. Once the preserve of shady figures in sidestreets, the sale of sp...

LONDON | Wed Dec 19, 2012 8:23am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Mario Balotelli has accepted a fine of two weeks' wages from Manchester City after withdrawing his appeal against disciplinary action taken by the Premier League champions, the club said on Wednesday. The volatile Italian striker, who was fined by City after a series of well-documented misdemeanors ...

LONDON | Wed Dec 19, 2012 7:40am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Britain ordered a new investigation into the deaths of 96 soccer fans in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster on Wednesday, three months after an independent report suggested the police had tried to cover up their mishandling of the tragedy. Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May said the ...

LONDON | Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:15am EST LONDON (Reuters) - London will get the chance to recreate the magic of 2012 after being chosen to host the 2017 Paralympic athletics world championships, Mayor Boris Johnson said on Wednesday. The event will be held just a month before the Olympic Stadium hosts the IAAF world athletics championships, making London the...

Wed Dec 19, 2012 3:21am EST (Reuters) - The Golden State Warriors staved off a late fourth-quarter challenge to beat New Orleans Hornets 103-96 for a successful home return on Tuesday. David Lee had 26 points and nine rebounds while Klay Thompson added 19 points as the Warriors triumphed in their first game at Oracle Arena since a recent seven-game road trip that...

By Simon Evans MIAMI | Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:28am EST MIAMI (Reuters) - The Miami Heat overcame a 28-point rebounding differential to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 103-92 on Tuesday with Dwyane Wade top scoring with 24 points. The Timberwolves slaughtered Miami 52-24 on the boards, with Kevin Love winning 18 of the rebounds and Montenegrin Nikola...

Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:53pm EST (Reuters) - Mark Sanchez's tenure with the New York Jets appears in jeopardy as the National Football League (NFL) team said on Monday it is benching the struggling quarterback in favor of Greg McElroy. McElroy, who was the Jets' third string quarterback behind Sanchez and backup Tim Tebow, will start against the San Diego Chargers on ...

Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:53pm EST (Reuters) - Koji Uehara hopes his injury woes are a thing of the past so he can reward Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox for the faith they showed in him, the Japanese right-handed reliever said on Tuesday. Uehara, who helped the Texas Rangers reach the 2011 World Series, missed over a month of last season with a right lat s...

By Patrick Lang MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy | Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:07pm EST MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy (Reuters) - Austria's Marcel Hirscher finished 2012 in style with his second victory of the winter in a floodlit slalom in Madonna di Campiglio, his last race of the year. The reigning overall World Cup champion won both runs and destroyed the fi...

LONDON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:19am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool forward Suso has been fined 10,000 pounds ($16,200) for a comment he posted on Twitter, the FA said on Tuesday. Suso was responding to his team mate Jose Enrique posting a photograph of himself getting his teeth whitened."What the f*** is he doing? This guy is gay...he does everything exc...

By Alan Baldwin LONDON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:17am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Max Chilton will be Britain's fourth man on the Formula One starting grid next season after back-markers Marussia said on Tuesday the 21-year-old would make his race debut with them in Australia in March. Chilton, the reserve driver this year, will partner Germany's Timo Gloc...

Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:10am EST (Reuters) - Serge Ibaka produced a season-best 25 points and 17 rebounds to spark the red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder to a 107-93 victory over Western Conference rivals San Antonio on Monday. Usually known for his defense and energy, Ibaka dominated the post against Tim Duncan to help the NBA-leading Thunder (20-4) cruise to their 11th s...

Tue Dec 18, 2012 12:26am EST (Reuters) - The New York Jets crashed out of AFC playoff contention with two late-game mistakes in a 14-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday. Driving downfield to Tennessee's 23-yard-line for a comeback in the final two minutes, quarterback Mark Sanchez tossed his fourth and final interception of the night in one of the worst out...

By Mike Collett SAO PAULO | Mon Dec 17, 2012 4:48pm EST SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil has problems like most countries but one that appears to be rapidly disappearing is the notion that it will not be ready to host the World Cup in just over 18 months' time. While anxieties remain about the Amazoni...

MOSCOW | Mon Dec 17, 2012 3:30pm EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Champion Denis Lebedev knocked out previously undefeated Colombian challenger Santander "Cha Cha" Silgado in the fourth round to retain his WBA cruiserweight title on Monday. Silgado, 27, looked the better fighter in the first three rounds before the 33-year-old Russian south-paw regained control mi...

Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:49pm EST (Reuters) - The United States will face neighbors Canada in a friendly in Houston on January 29, the Canadian Soccer Association said on Monday. The game will come at the end of the traditional January training camps for the two teams and is three days after Canada are scheduled to play Denmark in Tucson, Arizona.U.S. coach Juergen Kli...

By Simon Evans MIAMI | Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:42am EST MIAMI (Reuters) - The NFC East is a division rich in history and prestige, with a collective 12 Super Bowls won by its teams, and this season it is certainly living up to high expectations. With two regular season games remaining, the New York Giants, defending Super Bowl champions, share a thre...

LONDON | Mon Dec 17, 2012 8:06am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Bradley Wiggins has targeted winning the Giro d'Italia and defending his Tour de France crown back to back next year. Britain's first Tour de France winner was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday and immediately set his sights on emulating an incredible 12 months which also saw him ro...

Mon Dec 17, 2012 12:50am EST (Reuters) - The San Francisco 49ers squandered a 28-point lead against an explosive New England Patriots on Sunday but recovered late on to secure a playoffs berth with a thrilling 41-34 road victory. The 49ers dominated early in rainy New England, racing to a 31-3 advantage in the third quarter but Tom Brady and his top-ranked Patrio...

By Patrick Lang ALTA BADIA, Italy | Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:42am EST ALTA BADIA, Italy (Reuters) - Ted Ligety outclassed his rivals again with a comfortable victory in the classic Italian giant slalom of Alta Badia on Sunday. The world champion won his third giant slalom of the season in a combined time of two minutes and 37.27 seconds, 2.04 ahead of ...