Tag: Costa Rica

Extraordinary eco-adventures you won’t want to miss in Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s lush landscapes call to adventurous souls worldwide.

On a trip to northwestern Costa Rica with Choose Life Sober Adventures, nobody missed sitting around the pool drinking. There is so much to do in this Central American country known for ecotourism and biodiversity. Our group of nondrinkers bonded as we spent three days among the forest and waterfalls of Volcán Rincón de la Vieja National Park and three days in the sun and sand at Playa Carrillo. The days started early and ran full throttle as we explored the country’s land, water, and wildlife. Curious about what kinds of excursions are available for energetic travelers? Here are some of northwestern Costa Rica’s top eco-adventures.

Río Celeste’s bright blue waters light up Tenorio Volcano National Park

Uncover this gem of nature.

A surreal and colorful natural wonder sparkles within Costa Rica’s Tenorio Volcano National Park. North of the country’s capital city San José, the park hosts an amazing array of ecological treasures. Geysers, waterfalls, and the eponymous Tenorio Volcano treat guests to unique and dazzling views. However, out of all these stunning sights, countless visitors worldwide know the park for one rare treasure in particular — Río Celeste.

The Celeste River, or Río Celeste, is home to other-worldly bright blue waters. Flowing along Tenorio Volcano National Park’s lush green forest trails, the river gets its incredible color from a mineral substance that creates an “optical illusion.” While the park forbids swimming in the river, tourists can hike close enough to get clear pictures of the area. Guests craving a dip in the water can visit the Río Celeste Free Pool, a free public swimming area just past the park’s entrance.

A waterfall feeding into a blue river with rocks.
© Bruce Thomson

Additional water features in the park include rushing waterfalls and thermal springs. Hiking tours through the area highlight these natural gems as adventurers trek through the wilderness. On a hike, visitors can also expect to cross canopy-level hanging bridges that overlook the thriving forest. Some lucky guests may even spot a tapir or puma slinking through the wilderness.

A blue lake in a green forest.
© zero.the.hero

Before embarking on a hike through the park, make sure you’re prepared for a strenuous workout. As Alejandro Zúñiga of The Tico Times wrote, “Tenorio Volcano National Park is beautiful, but you have to be willing to work for it.” Nearly four miles of trail will take hikers up steep inclines and a grueling set of stairs. Tourists who complete this journey through nature will have their effort rewarded with scenic views of waterfalls, lagoons, and rivers that bubble from the warmth of the nearby Tenorio Volcano. These sights will surely stick with visitors, but don’t forget to bring a camera to capture the moment, too.

USWNT pleased with Costa Rica win, focused on getting sharper in CONCACAF W Championship final

It was an easy USWNT win, but the team sees room for improvement

What could have been a potentially difficult night ended up being rather pedestrian for the U.S. women’s national team, who had little to worry about in a 3-0 win over Costa Rica that sent them to Thursday’s CONCACAF W Championship final.

Goals from Emily Sonnett and Mallory Pugh late in the first half, after some big misses and a shot off the post from Alex Morgan, allowed the USWNT to preserve some energy in the second half, with Ashley Sanchez firing home a third just before the final whistle to put an exclamation point on the victory.

Despite the ease of the win, though, post-game reactions were a bit reserved, as the team expressed a focus on wanting to cut down on mistakes.

“I feel like we made too many technical mistakes that are a byproduct of our mental preparation,” Vlatko Andonovski said bluntly on the CBS Sports Network’s broadcast of the game.

In the press conference following the match, Andonovski expanded on that assertion. “I thought that we made too many technical errors. Too many for the players that were on the field, because we know that they’re technical,” said the USWNT head coach. “We know they can settle the ball and pass and execute different technical demands, even under a lot more pressure in pressing moments. But today, for some reason, we made like I said, a little too many (mistakes), and that’s something that we’re gonna look into, to see what it is.”

That’s not to say that the USWNT’s performance was poor, with a relentless counter-press effectively rendering the first half an offense vs. defense exercise. Getting into halftime with a two-goal advantage gave them a vital advantage going into the final: a less demanding second half.

“We went with the game plan from the defensive standpoint that I thought that we executed well when it comes down to reading the moments, and when we want to press and when we want to drop off a little bit and allow them to connect (a) few passes,” said Andonovski. “So as we’re playing this game, where the result goes in our way, we actually started changing a little bit on how we defend, and allowed them just slightly more touches on the ball, which was for us moreso ‘let’s not waste any any extra energy that we have to to win the ball back.'”

Facing an unfamiliar Costa Rica, who came out having rotated key starters in Raquel Rodríguez and Melissa Herrera and playing a 5-4-1 formation, Andonovski detailed aspects of his game plan that helped the U.S. make the game easier on themselves.

“We knew that we’re going to have to, per se, ‘borrow’ a player from the back to overload their backline, and we knew that it’s not going to be easy to execute, because we haven’t had an opportunity to work on that,” said Andonovski, alluding to a back four that saw Sofia Huerta often joining the attack while Sonnett stayed home. “We offset the build up a little bit, with the fullbacks, and build a little different way. But overall, I still think it worked well, because especially early on, we were able to create opportunities, we were able to score goals.”

Andonovski credited that back four—who helped keep Casey Murphy from facing any shots on goal, and only one shot at all—for remaining focused throughout, even as their job largely became about possession and tempo-setting with the ball.

“(Costa Rica) were playing so low and because they were bringing numbers a lot centrally, it was hard for them to transition out,” explained Andonovski. “It looked a little bit easy for our backline, but sometimes this is even a little bit harder, because they were only called out to defend in two or three instances. So they have to maintain 100% focus throughout the whole game, and I think that they executed defensively everything well.”

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Costa Rica punts and USWNT cruises into CONCACAF W Championship final

The U.S. easily defeated a weakened Ticas side to reach Monday’s final

The U.S. women’s national team would’ve been heavily favored against Costa Rica on Thursday evening no matter the circumstances, but the Ticas essentially conceded the CONCACAF W Championship semifinal before it even started.

It wasn’t necessarily a terrible strategy from Costa Rica boss Amelia Valverde, but it did take a lot of the mystery, and fun, out of a game that theoretically should have been a major occasion.

In his press conference ahead of the match, USWNT boss Vlatko Andonovski spotlighted four Ticas players his team needed to deal with: Raquel Rodríguez, Melissa Herrera, Shirley Cruz, and María Paula Salas.

Three of those players were benched. Cruz, who hadn’t started in the tournament before Thursday, was the only exception. Valverde even benched goalkeeper Daniela Solera, who started all three group-stage games.

Valverde essentially punted on the semifinal, assuming her side would’ve lost to the USWNT anyway, and saved some of her stars for the third-place game and an alternative route to Olympic qualification.

Given the USWNT has won all 16 games against Costa Rica all time, scoring 87 and conceding two, Valverde may not have been wrong to punt on Thursday’s game. But it did give it an air of inevitability as a sparse crowd in Monterrey watched the USWNT win 3-0.

Despite a temperature hovering in the 90s all game, the USWNT pressed hard in the first half, and was rewarded particularly on Mallory Pugh’s goal, which followed a forced turnover and eye-catching backheel by Rose Lavelle.

With a two-goal lead going into halftime, the USWNT was able to ease off in the second half as it looks ahead to Monday’s final against either Jamaica or Canada.

The winner of this tournament automatically reaches the 2024 Olympics, while the loser of the final will face the winner of the third-place game for a second CONCACAF berth in Paris.

Costa Rica can now aim its focus on that third-place game. In truth, its focus was already on that game before Thursday’s game even started.

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Young USWNT readies for Costa Rica challenge at CONCACAF W Championship

Vlatko Andonovski and Andi Sullivan say the USWNT is ready for Costa Rica

The U.S. women’s national team, having won their CONCACAF W Championship group without conceding a goal, is completing their preparations to face Costa Rica on Thursday (7:00pm Eastern, CBS Sports Network and Paramount +) in a match that has major Olympic qualifying implications.

With the W Championship’s structure, winning your semifinal means a shot at an automatic berth in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, while the defeated team will play in Monday’s third-place game needing to win just to maintain hope of qualifying via a playoff over a year from now.

The USWNT has not conceded a goal in the tournament, and has historically bossed matches against Costa Rica, but speaking to media today in a pre-match press conference, head coach Vlatko Andonovski and midfielder Andi Sullivan had nothing but respect for Amelia Valverde’s side.

On the top of their list? A focus on reducing the impact of Portland Thorns midfielder Raquel Rodríguez.

Sullivan said she’s “looking forward to that matchup,” one that will be pretty common throughout given Rodríguez’s status as Costa Rica’s creative hub and Sullivan being the USWNT’s starting defensive midfielder in 2022. “I play against Rocky in the league a lot, and she’s a fantastic player.”

Andonovski also highlighted Rodríguez, but had a long list of players he’s concerned about. Bordeaux winger Melissa Herrera, veteran midfielder Shirley Cruz, and young striker María Paula Salas were all emphasized.

“They do have some weapons that they can hurt teams, and this is something that we’re very well aware of, and we’re very familiar with,” said Andonovski. “Now, it’s up to us to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

While he was willing to discuss the difficulties of playing one of CONCACAF’s top teams, Andonovski was less ready to tip his hand as far as the USWNT’s goalkeeping situation. Alyssa Naeher, the longtime No. 1, only played in the 5-0 win over Jamaica, while Casey Murphy started the USWNT’s first match of the tournament. After saying the coaching staff would discuss the situation going into the Mexico game, Murphy somewhat surprisingly got the nod.

Still, Andonovski indicated that the position is not a settled issue.

“It is a little bit up in the air,” said Andonovski. “As a staff, we’ve talked a lot about it and who’s going to be in the goal in the next game, and also how we want to approach hopefully the following game. But I’m not at liberty to discuss that right now.”

Youth movement

His choice in goal may remain a secret for another day, but Andonovski was up for talking about how this much younger version of the USWNT is handling the responsibility that comes with being on a team where the standard is to win every game.

Coming off of an Olympic tournament that saw the team lean heavily towards one more go for the generation that won the 2019 World Cup only to come home with a bronze medal, there has been a pronounced shift. Murphy is the youngest goalkeeper in camp, while the team’s two best performers in the group stage were arguably 21-year-old forward Sophia Smith and NWSL rookie Naomi Girma.

There’s a generational shift elsewhere, with Sullivan and Mallory Pugh more firmly ensconced in the squad than ever, and Emily Fox (whose status after being placed in Covid-19 protocols remains unclear) the only natural left back on the roster.

“We trust these young players a lot, and we’re very happy with where they’re at in the development stage of their career,” said Andonovski. “It was good for them to also learn some things on their own. I mean, the game against Mexico was tremendous… It was a little bit stressful. It was a little hostile. The team that we faced was a good team, very well-coached. And they were motivated. They were intense, all together. It was a great opportunity.”

The change in tournament phases has come with a roster adjustment, and the USWNT continued their youth movement. Ashley Hatch’s injury against Jamaica required a replacement being added to the team, but rather than bring another striker in, or call up a veteran, Andonovski went with yet another younger player in uncapped defensive midfielder Sam Coffey.

“We did go a little bit unbalanced in this tournament in terms of how many forwards and how many midfielders we had, but we did that with a plan in mind,” said Andonovski. “When Ashley got injured, we felt like it was a good moment to balance the team back again, and bring Sam in,” before adding that he didn’t want to go outside of the group called in for pre-tournament preparation matches in order to preserve the environment and camaraderie built over the last three weeks.

Sullivan said that on a team where the hunger to win every game is heightened no matter the competition, there’s no real adjustment to make going from the group stage’s World Cup qualification aspect over to the knockout rounds and the built-in pressure of Olympic places being up for grabs.

“We take every game so seriously,” explained Sullivan. “I don’t think it’s that much of (an) adjustment to focus now more specifically on winning the tournament and qualifying for the Olympics.”

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CONCACAF W Championship 2022: Schedule, TV and streaming for USWNT World Cup and Olympic qualifying

World Cup and Olympic qualifying spots are on the line at the W Championship

The 2022 CONCACAF W Championship runs from July 4-18, with the U.S. women’s national team and seven other sides from the region will duke it out for a small pool of spots at the 2023 World Cup as well as the 2024 Olympics.

The W Championship will feature two groups of four, with all games taking place in Monterrey, Mexico. The United States headlines Group A, but along with Haiti and Jamaica, will face the daunting task of facing an improving Mexico team backed by a raucous home crowd. Over in Group B, Olympic gold medalists Canada share a group with Costa Rica, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The top two teams from both groups will qualify for the 2023 World Cup, but that will only be doing half the job. The W Championship winner qualifies directly for the Paris Olympics, while the runner-up and the winner of the third place game will face off in a September playoff for CONCACAF’s second Olympic spot.

Below are the dates, times, and broadcast information for all of the tournament’s games. This article will update throughout the W Championship.

Group A

July 4

USWNT 3-0 Haiti: Estadio Universitario

Mexico vs. Jamaica: Estadio Universitario, 10:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: CBS Sports Network, Paramount +, Vix

July 7

Jamaica vs. USWNT: Estadio BBVA, 7:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

Haiti vs. Mexico: Estadio BBVA, 10:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

July 11

Jamaica vs. Haiti: Estadio BBVA, 10:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

USWNT vs. Mexico: Estadio Universitario, 10:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

Group B

July 5

Costa Rica vs. Panama: Estadio BBVA, 7:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

Canada vs. Trinidad and Tobago: Estadio BBVA, 10:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

July 8

Trinidad and Tobago vs. Costa Rica: Estadio Universitario, 7:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

Panama vs. Canada: Estadio Universitario, 10:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

July 11

Canada vs. Costa Rica: Estadio BBVA, 7:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

Panama vs. Trinidad and Tobago: Estadio Universitario, 7:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

Knockout rounds

July 14 – Semifinals

Group A Winner vs. Group B Runner-Up: Estadio Universitario, 7:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: CBS Sports Network, Paramount +, Vix

Group B Winner vs. Group A Runner-Up: Estadio Universitario, 10:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: CBS Sports Network, Paramount +, Vix

July 18 – final/third place game

Third place game
Semifinal Loser 1 vs. Semifinal Loser 2: Estadio BBVA, 7:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

Final
Semifinal Winner 1 vs. Semifinal Winner 2: Estadio BBVA, 10:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: Paramount +, Vix

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Así festejó Costa Rica el gol de Campbell que los mete al Mundial

La alegría no se hizo esperar tras el silbatazo final y en las calles de San José la gente se desbordó en apoyo a su selección

¡Pura vida! Costa Rica es el último invitado a Qatar 2022 al derrotar a Nueva Zelanda por 1-0 con gol de Joel Campbell que llenó de alegría al pueblo tico.

Un duelo no apto para cardiacos pues los ticos se encontraron con el gol del jugador de Rayados muy temprano en el partido apenas a los tres minutos de iniciado el encuentro tras cerrar una diagonal retrasada y batir al portero kiwi.

© SIPA USA

Y desde los tres minutos a sufrir, pues los ‘All Whites’ juegan muy bien por arriba y en cada pelota parada complicaron a Keylor Navas que se vistió de héroe de Costa Rica en más de una ocasión salvando el marco de su equipo pese a que los de Oceanía terminaron el partido con 10 hombres.

En San José de inmediato comenzaron a circular videos de Twitter donde la gente se reunió en las calles de la capital tica para disfrutar con mucho nerviosismo el pase de su equipo a Qatar 2022, en su tercera Copa del Mundo de manera consecutiva.

La alegría no se hizo esperar tras el silbatazo final y en las calles de San José la gente se desbordó en apoyo a su sele que hace historia al revertir una eliminatoria que comenzó de manera terrible pero supieron recomponer el camino para quedarse con el último boleto a Qatar 2022.

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Costa Rica defeats New Zealand to reach third straight World Cup

The Ticos have qualified for their third consecutive World Cup

Costa Rica has booked its place in the 2022 World Cup with a 1-0 win over New Zealand in the intercontinental playoff on Tuesday in Qatar.

Joel Campbell scored off a cross from 17-year-old Jewison Bennette in the third minute, and that goal stood up the rest of the match as the Ticos reached a third straight World Cup and fifth out of six.

Costa Rica finished fourth in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, reaching the playoff after Canada, the United States and Mexico all qualified automatically.

Luis Fernando Suárez’s side will now go into World Cup Group E alongside Spain, Germany and Japan.

The Ticos were beneficiaries of two major decisions in their favor after a VAR review.

First, Chris Wood’s equalizer for New Zealand five minutes before halftime was waved off due to a foul in the build-up.

Midway through the second half, New Zealand’s Kosta Barbarouses was shown a straight red card after a video review for a studs-up challenge on Costa Rica defender Francisco Calvo.

The 32-team field for the World Cup has now been finalized after three final spots were earned this month.

In Europe, Wales defeated Ukraine to seal the final UEFA spot, while Australia defeated Peru on Monday in the other intercontinental playoff.

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Panamá hizo su parte pero Costa Rica se quedó con el repechaje

Ahora los ticos enfrentarán a Nueva Zelanda en junio para definir quién de los dos irá a Qatar 2022.

El único puesto que la Concacaf definía este cierre de eliminatoria era el del cuarto sitio para el repechaje ante Nueva Zelanda y a la cita llegaron dos equipos con la opción: Panamá y Costa Rica.

A los dos equipos poco les importaba lo que pasara en México entre El Tri y El Salvador, pues los duelos eran ante Canadá y Estados Unidos y la victoria estaba obligada.

© Reuters-USA TODAY Sports

Fueron los panameños los primeros en abrir el marcador, Gabriel Torres, el llamado Gabigol de un paso fugaz y poco productivo por los Pumas de la UNAM, le dio a los canaleros al 49 el gol que llenaba de ilusión a un país.

Pero Costa Rica reaccionó sabedores que les urgía hacer algo ante Estados Unidos y al 51 y 59 marcaron los dos goles con que derrotaron a los de las barras y las estrellas por 2-0 y aseguraron su pase al repechaje.

Panamá se quedó cerca en una eliminatoria que empezó bien pero cerró mal, contrario a Costa Rica que ganó siete de sus últimos ocho partidos y recuperó una eliminatoria que parecía muy cuesta arriba.

Ahora los ticos enfrentarán a Nueva Zelanda en junio para definir quién de los dos irá a Qatar 2022.

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Pumas no jugará solo ante Saprissa, la Rebel invade Costa Rica

No es la primera vez que la Rebel se hace presente en el Estadio Saprissa, ya en 2005 fueron a la final de Concacaf y esta noche habrá goyas

Los Pumas de la UNAM debutan esta noche en la Liga de Campeones de la Concacaf ante el Saprissa en su visita a Costa Rica.

Pero no estarán solos, decenas de aficionados auriazules han hecho el viaje a la ciudad de San José y acompañarán a su equipo esta noche en el regreso de los universitarios a los torneos internacionales.

Foto ESPECIAL

Como ya es una costumbre, la Rebel acompaña al equipo donde sea que se presente y en la Concachampions no será la excepción y desde el domingo se pudo observar el arribo de los aficionados auriazules que ataviados con la indumentaria de su equipo han invadido poco a poco la capital tica.

Foto ESPECIAL

Desde 15 dólares por boleto, los aficionados mexicanos y de Estados Unidos que se han desplazado a Costa Rica podrán disfrutar el encuentro entre los Pumas y el Monstruo Morado en el Estadio Saprissa.

No es la primera vez que la parcialidad universitaria se hace presente en el Estadio de Saprissa, ya en 2005 en aquella final de Concacaf que Pumas perdió ante los ticos, un grupo de seguidores de la Rebel acompañó a los de la UNAM en aquella final que después en la vuelta sería para los visitantes en CU.

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