U.S. to Face a Desperate Costa Rica Team

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — The United States has never played well in Costa Rica, and the job might be even harder this time: Costa Rica is under immense pressure to win today.

Costa Rica qualified for soccer’s 1990 World Cup but has not returned since. It was also upset, 2-1, in a World Cup qualifier at Barbados last weekend, a decision that did not sit well at home.

The Americans are coming off a 1-1 tie at Guatemala in their opener of the second round of qualifying for the 2002 World Cup.

“It’s definitely going to be a hostile atmosphere, and it’ll probably be a lot worse at Saprissa Stadium than it was last weekend in Guatemala,” U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna said. “It’s going to be a difficult game because they lost last weekend, and they’ll be under a tremendous amount of pressure from the fans and the whole country.”

The U.S. has not won in five attempts in Costa Rica but might benefit from Costa Rican fans who have turned anger usually reserved for the visiting team toward one of the national team’s top players.

The family of forward Paulo Wanchope hired bodyguards this week after fans tossed a bottle at him during practice and berated him from the stands.

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Carlos Ruiz scored in the second minute and Guatemala went on to beat Barbados, 2-0, at Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

Guatemala (1-0-1) leads Group E CONCACAF qualifying, one point ahead of Barbados (1-1).