San Jose Earthquakes forward Marco UreƱa and the Costa Rica National Team are busy preparing for their final two qualifying matches for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The Ticos currently sit in second place in the Hex, and need just one point from their two matches against Honduras and Panama to qualify.
UreƱa left on Sunday, Oct. 1 to join the Costa Rica National Team following the Quakesā 2-1 victory against the Portland Timbers.
UreƱa most recently joined the Costa Rica National Team for a pair of qualifiers in September against the U.S. and Mexico, and proved to be the difference for the Ticos. The Quakes forward scored both goals in Costa Rica's 2-0 win over the U.S., and scored the lone goal in the 1-1 draw with Mexico.
āIn the last World Cup in Brazil, we did a great job there so everybody is expecting Costa Rica to do the same thing this time,ā UreƱa told sjearthquakes.com before departing for Costa Rica. āWe are really excited and looking forward to Russia. We know that we are close to qualifying, we just need one point to do it, and hopefully we can get it in the next game against Honduras.ā
Costa Rica will first take on Honduras on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. PT at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San Jose, Costa Rica. The match was originally scheduled for Friday, Oct. 6, but due to the heavy rains with Tropical Storm Nate, the match was postponed to Saturday as Costa Rica declared a national emergency. In the meantime, he has been busy training with the squad, and reuniting with his old teammates. Before training on Wednesday, he reminisced with Giancarlo Gonzalez, with whom he played at Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.
The team also met up with Sherman Guity on Wednesday. Guity was a promising track athlete for Costa Rica, but was tragically in a motorcycle accident in August and had is left leg amputated.
āYesterday we met up with Sherman, who has become an example for all of us. You are a champion!ā Donāt miss UreƱa and the Costa Rica National Team as they take on Honduras on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. PT on beIN Sports, beIN Sports en Espanol and Universo.
