Costa Ricans suffer new blow with Cup failure

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, June 21: Costa Rica, which prides itself on being a cut above other Central American states, was plunged into gloom 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 1-2 loss to Poland left the tiny coffee-growing state with the worst performance of all nations so far, and an early exit.

''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 yesterday.

''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.''

REUTERS

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