Group A
Poland 2, Costa Rica 1Costa Rica, which prides itself on being a cut above other Central American states, was plunged into gloom on Tuesday when its soccer team lost its third match at the World Cup in Germany.
The self-image of Costa Ricans, already battered by a series of corruption scandals, sank to a new low when the 2-1 loss to Poland left the tiny coffee-growing state with the worst performance of all nations so far, and an early exit.
PHOTO: AFP
"It's a disaster for Costa Rica and a humiliation in front of the whole world," said machine operator Orlando Mora shortly after watching the game on television.
"I thought Poland were going to score five goals," said Marco Antonio Mora, a 55-year-old design school director.
One of the few nations without an army, Costa Rica was stable while many neighbors were embroiled in civil conflicts in the 1980s, but its standing in the region has since fallen.
Former presidents Rafael Angel Calderon and Miguel Angel Rodriguez were jailed briefly in 2004 on charges of taking kickbacks from foreign companies.
In elections this year voters handed back power to Nobel laureate and former president Oscar Arias, a national icon untouched by the scandals, in hope of recovering some lost dignity.
The soccer team's performance in Germany, however, was another let down for the country. "We have been hit badly by these results," Brazilian-born coach Alexandre Guimaraes said.
"Contrary to some media reports, we did not come here for a stroll. The team has worked very hard but we are very aware that it did not work out," he said.
Two goals from defender Bartosz Bosacki -- his first for his country -- gave Poland a comeback 2-1 victory over Costa Rica in their nothing-at-stake Group A encounter.
With Germany and Ecuador already qualified for the last 16, the teams were playing for the futures of their under-fire coaches and to avoid last spot in the group.
Costa Rica opened the scoring with a well-worked free kick in the 25th minute with Poland grabbing a hotly contested equalizer eight minutes later.
The winner came midway through the second half with Poland on top after a good spell of pressure.
Under-pressure Polish coach Pawel Janas said that he was happy the team was returning home having got one win under their belts.
"It would have been a pity to go home without any points or goals," he said.
Janas, who has been in charge since 2003, added he had not decided on his future as of yet, though, there have been many calls for him to resign as the Poles crashed out of the World Cup at the first hurdle for the second successive time.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB