National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10305 (Terracing: 7729, Seating: 2370, VIP seats: 206) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Bryan Ruiz kicked off to start the match. Alejandro Figueres showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Barry Allen in the 3rd minute of the match. In the 5th minute Guido Ortega shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Alan Loyola saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. U21 Brazil's Alan Loyola played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Bryan Ruiz in the 13th minute of play. Alan Loyola showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Bryan Ruiz in the 13th minute of the match. The referee felt a red card was in order, 14 minutes into the game, when Pascual Navarro put in a rough tackle. Kléber Sarmento received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Alejandro Figueres came out and tried to block the shot, but Kléber Sarmento slotted it home off the left post making it 2-0 in the 24th minute. If Kléber Sarmento had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 26th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. A collision led to U21 Brazil getting a freekick after 32 minutes play. Kléber Sarmento hit a great ball. When the match had gone on for 35 minutes, Bryan Ruiz put it in 2-1 from a short distance just to the right of Alan Loyola. In the 39th minute Barry Allen shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Alejandro Figueres saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. If José Carlos Nogueira had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 45th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. An unexpectedly hard shot by Barry Allen in the 47th minute of play forced U21 Costa Rica's goalkeeper Alejandro Figueres to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Af the end of the first half the score was 2-1. The first half had gone as expected for the home team.

U21 Costa Rica made a substitution. Jóel Campbell replaced Bennie Medina. Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Luan Guilherme to make the kick off. An unexpectedly hard shot by Barry Allen in the 56th minute of play forced U21 Costa Rica's goalkeeper Alejandro Figueres to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 60th minute, Guido Ortega hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. U21 Brazil's Ronaldo Fenomeno was substituted for Luan Guilherme. In the 61st minute, Guido Ortega hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Bryan Ruiz could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 63rd minute of the match, but Alan Loyola made a huge save. An unexpectedly hard shot by Mário Sá in the 69th minute of play forced U21 Costa Rica's goalkeeper Alejandro Figueres to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After 72 minutes of play, U21 Brazil's Leonel Veloso made it 3-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Alejandro Figueres was left in no man's land by his defense there! U21 Costa Rica made a substitution. Dennis Bolaños replaced Pancho Hurtado. When Ronaldo Fenomeno came up free with the goalie in the 76th minute, the U21 Brazil fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Ronaldo Fenomeno couldn't finish the play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Kléber Sarmento in the 77th minute of play forced U21 Costa Rica's goalkeeper Alejandro Figueres to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 80 minutes into the game, U21 Brazil's Arlindo Tavares nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Alejandro Figueres made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 4-1. The audience thought a goal was coming when Jóel Campbell got free with Alan Loyola in the 84th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 87th minute, Arlindo Tavares left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The U21 Brazil fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 5-1. Alejandro Figueres took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Freddy Adu, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. It was no surprise that this one had ended in a win for the home team. U21 Brazil had played much better football throughout.