Saborio’s hat-trick tames the Golden Jaguars
THE might of the Costa Rican football team proved too much for the Guyana Golden Jaguars as they crumbled at the hands of the CONCACAF giants in their 2014 Brazil World Cup Qualifiers match last night at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. The Costa Rican team nicknamed La Sele, sealed a comfortable 4-0 win over the hosts Golden Jaguars to move on to four points in the points standing while those goals gave their goal difference a welcome boost in Group B. Guyana still have zero.
The other Group B members Mexico and El Salvador also locked horns last night; up to press time the teams had just completed the first half. Mexico had three points at the start of the encounter while El Salvador had one point.
Last night, experience, progressive ball possession and decisive passing were the major aspects of the game where Costa Rican showed superiority over Guyana thus resulting in an easy win.
In the first half Costa Rica played a 4-2-1-3 formation which drilled through Guyana’s 4-3-2-2 formation that could not hold its form because of the visitors’ constant attacks.
Costa Rica played aggressive football throughout the first half with triangular attacks and penetrated the Guyanese 18-yard box quite often.
Alvaro Saborio scored Costa Rica’s first goal just inside the 18-yard box with a low kick to the far post which easily beat Guyana’s custodian Ronson Williams and silenced the local supporters of about seven thousand.
However, Guyana could have equalised two minutes later from a set play on the left wing when Kayode McKinnon sent a lovely ball into Costa Rica’s 18-yard box that was headed into the bottom of the horizontal and seemed to cross the goal line but the referee waved it off.
In the 26th minute Saborio once again got through the defensive line, received a ball to challenge Williams alone and strangely beat him to the first post with an ordinary header to extend the lead.
As the game progressed it became more one-sided with the Costa Ricans dominating but the Guyanese did put up some fight and had a few half-chances which kept the crowd interested.
The second half saw the impressive Saborio complete his hat-trick in the 52nd minute. His time on the field was meaningful to Costa Rica with every possession but dangerous for the Guyana side.
Costa Rica’s unassailable lead was extended in the 77th minute when La Sele’s next forward Joel Campbell made his presence felt with a pretty lob over the head of the rushing Ronson Williams. After that goal was scored the Guyanese spectators began heading for the exit because it spelt the END.