A lonely goal from the captain of a thousand battles Bryan Ruiz gave to Costa Rica this Thursday a golden victory at home over Panama that allows them to get back into the fight for classification at Qatar World Cup 2022.
It was minute 65 when a shot from Joseph Ortiz it was rejected by the Panamanian goalkeeper Luis Mejía, and the ball fell at the feet of Ruiz, who finished off to score the only goal of a game that was close from start to finish and without much brilliance in the attack of both teams.
with this win Costa Rica They are in fifth place in the octagonal Concacaf qualifying round with 12 points in 9 rounds, below Canada (19), the United States (18), Mexico (17) and Panama (14).
Costa Rica gets into the fight for at least fourth place that will access a playoff against a rival from Oceaniawaiting for the next two days in which he will visit Mexico and Jamaica.
For its part, Panama I let go of the opportunity to consolidate at the top of the table, although he will be able to resume his path on Sunday at home against Jamaica and on Wednesday as a visitor in Mexico.
The first half of this Thursday’s match at the San Jose National Stadium It was characterized by the struggle of both teams in the midfield, with a Costa Rica forced to attack to win and get into the fight for qualification, and an orderly Panama, waiting for a blow to hurt the rival.
Few clear plays in the goals during the first half, with the exception of a header by Panamanian José Fajardo that escaped just to the side of the goal of the Keylor Navas.
Without much clarity in the armed game, Costa Rica bet on the skill of Joel Campbell and the speed of Alonso Martínez on the flanks to try to hurt the Panamanian team, who defended well and only had some trouble in the air due to the height of the Costa Rican defender Kendall Watson.
In the second part the coach of Costa Ricathe Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez, ordered variants and sent the veterans to the field Celso Borges and Bryan Ruiz and the team looked better with possession of the ball, although without generating too much offensive football.
After wasting a couple of counterattack plays, Panama conceded the 1-0 in a play that arose from the imagination of Joel Campbell, who made a double wall with Ortiz inside the area that led to a shot that Panamanian goalkeeper Luis Mejía rejected, but the rebound was served so that Bryan Ruiz scored the goal at minute 65.
With the advantage on the scoreboard Costa Rica withdrew and entrusted himself to the saving hands of goalkeeper Navas who conjured up a couple of dangerous plays by the Panamanian team, while in the Costa Rican offensive Joel Campbell continued to stand as the great local figure.
The selector of Panama, Thomas Christiansenreinforced the attack in search of equality and was about to achieve it in the 90th minute with a header from Ayarza that crashed into the horizontal.
Data sheet
Costa Rica: Keylor Navas, Keysher Fuller, Kendall Waston, Francisco Calvo, Ronald Matarrita (Juan Pablo Vargas, m.80); Orlando Galo (Celso Borges, m.44), Yeltsin Tejeda, Aaron Suárez (Bryan Ruiz, m.46); Joel Campbell, Alonso Martínez (Gerson Torres, m.67) and José Ortiz (Johan Venegas, m.67).
Selector: Luis Fernando Suarez.
Panama: Luis Mejía, Michael Murillo, Fidel Escobar, Andrés Andrade, Eric Davis; Anibal Godoy, Adalberto Carrasquilla (Abdiel Ayarza, m.75), José Luis Rodríguez (Alberto Quintero, m.46), Édgar Bárcenas (Gabriel Torres, m.75); Freddy Góndola (César Yanis, m.67) and José Fajardo (Rolando Blackburn, m.67).
Selector: Thomas Christiansen.
Referee: The American Ismail Elfath.
Goal: 1-0, m.65: Bryan Ruiz
Incidents: Match for the ninth day of the octagonal final of Concacaf towards the 2022 Qatar World Cup, played at the San José National Stadium.
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