Costa Rica come to Germany defence-less

BERLIN, June 21 (Reuters) Costa Rica abolished its army in 1949 and the soccer team look to have followed suit with their own defence.

No other World Cup team allowed in as many goals as the peaceful Central American side. Goalkeeper Jose Porras had to pick nine balls from his net in three matches.

The ''Ticos'' came to the World Cup under a great spotlight, playing the opener against hosts Germany before billions of viewers.

But they fly home now under a cloud after three Group A losses -- 4-2 to Germany, 3-0 to Ecuador and 2-1 to Poland.

''We have been hit badly by these results,'' said Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes after the defeat to Poland in a match between the two double losers of Group A yesterday in Hanover.

''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.'' Costa Rica must have known they were in trouble when they arrived in Germany and played a charity match against a team of ageing all-stars thrown together by Bild am Sonntag newspaper and their star columnist, 1974 world champion Paul Breitner.

It was only practice but the team from the tiny coffee-producing nation struggled, winning with two late goals against Breitner's team of retired players such as Fredi Bobic and Roy Praeger.

Costa Rica suffered further ignominy in two other warmup matches, losing 2-0 against a regional side in Catalonia and then falling 3-2 to a regional Kurpfalz team in Germany.

Costa Rica started the event proper with a 4-2 loss to Germany in the opener, the highest scoring World Cup opening match ever.

Paulo Wanchope's two goals against Germany, another team with defensive problems, made coach Juergen Klinsmann's dire warnings about a dangerous Costa Rica seem plausible.

But then Costa Rica gave up three goals to Ecuador, a team that struggled to beat anyone away from the 2,800-metre altitude of their home in Quito.

In the northern German port city of Hamburg -- where the stadium is 11 metres above sea level -- Costa Rica made Ecuador look a difficult prospect at any altitude.

Costa Rica then ended their second consecutive World Cup with another first round exit by conceding a 2-1 defeat to Poland, who had not scored in their first two matches.

To add to Costa Rica's humiliation, it was a Polish defender-- Bartosz Bosacki --- who scored both goals, the first in his international career.

Reuters

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