In terms of sheer numbers, soccer is the most popular sport around the world. Although for the longest time, the game did not catch on in the United States, it has recently garnered greater popularity, even overcoming hockey in popularity. However, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, there is no game more important than soccer, or association football (or simply football) as it is more commonly known.
In Costa Rica, as well as the rest of Central America, football is the number one, most beloved and most practiced sport. Recently, women’s football has begun to catch up to the male counterpart. The Costa Rican women’s team is gaining more and more fans.
However, sad news came for the women’s youth football team recently. They were pushed out of the U-20 World Cup, after losing a devastating 0 – 5 game against Brazil. The U-20 World Cup is one of the most important youth football competitions, with online betting sites constantly offering football betting promotions when it comes to the tournament.
How Did Las Ticas Do?
Costa Rica competed in the standard three matches during the 2022 FIFA U-20 World Cup. And, unfortunately, the team did not perform too well. Genesis Perez, the goalkeeper of Las Ticas has been receiving quite a bit of criticism, however, Costa Rican fans have shown quite a bit of maturity and support, cheering for her when she blocked a devastating penalty kick against Brazil.
Still, this was not enough to turn the tides of the match. But, we will get to that a bit further in the article. The Costa Ricans ended this year’s U-20 World Cup having lost all three matches. However, as far as we can tell, Las Ticas have not let themselves be discouraged. They are hungry to prove themselves during next year, recently were shown alongside the National Men team, celebrating the World Cup entry.
Now that you know the backstory, let us take a look at each individual match played during the U-20 World Cup, and see just how they turned out.
Vs. Australia
The first match Costa Rica participated in saw them pitted against the Australians. It was played on August 11, and, though they lost, it was the best showing for the Las Ticas in the 2022 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
They managed to score a goal in the 19th minute of play, and it was the first goal of the match. It was Alexandra Pinell Gonzales that scored the goal, paving a way for the Costa Ricans to take the win. However, it was not meant to be.
Sixteen minutes later, Australia was awarded a penalty shot. Taken by Aussie midfielder Sara Hunter, the Australians managed to even the score. Whether this led to an overall drop in morale, we can’t say, but the next goal certainly left a bad taste in Las Ticas’ mouth. It came only a minute later, and clenched Australia’s victory.
The match ended with a score of 3 – 1, when Kirsty Fenton scored the last goal in the second half of the match.
Vs. Spain
In Costa Rica’s second match of the U-20, they went up against Spain. It is difficult to say whether the problem lay in their lack in morale, or if Spain was simply too good. But the game did not go well for Las Ticas.
Not a single goal was scored by the Costa Rican team during this match. Which, in and of itself, would not have been so bad. However, what made it seem terrible was Spain’s devastating 5 goals scored. To top it all off, Spain absolutely dominated the match, being in possession of the ball for over 70% of the game.
Vs. Brazil
Lastly, we come to the final match, against one of the most successful countries in the world of football. Brazil won their match against Costa Rica with a devastating 5 – 0 score. However, it was during this match that Ms. Gonzales manage to block quite an impressive penalty shot, which earned her the respect of the Costa Rican, and some multinational fans.
Though they suffered three back-to-back defeats, Las Ticas have not allowed themselves to wallow in self-pity. In fact, it was just a couple of days after their defeat that the team joined the World Cup party just like the national men’s team. Rather than falter, we hope that they can take this as a learning experience, and bring it harder in 2023.
Conclusion
Though Costa Rica’s women’s youth team did not see a great showing at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, they remain motivated and hungry to prove themselves in the next season. With the Costa Rican people standing behind them, they are likely to have much better showings next year.
