Luckily it was a friendly match, so the five goals Costa Rica received against Spain “don’t count”, even still, it doesn’t make it any less humiliating. This is an excellent wake up call for Costa Rica’s Male National Soccer team and a great opportunity to learn from its mistakes.

The great performance “La Sele” had in Brazil 2014 was not a fluke, it was the result of hard work, discipline and good elements working together; and Costa Rica should have the goal of having even a better World Cup in Russia 2018, but it won’t happen by coincidence, the different pieces must come together, and strategies need to be in place to avoid being embarrassed.

As we have mentioned before, during the CONCACAF qualification stage , “La Sele” didn’t have outstanding performances, in fact it closed the stage with two draws and a loss; problems were evident then, with captain Bryan Ruiz carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders with the responsibility of organizing the team and making it “play”; the absence of Ruiz or if he simply is having a bad day, Costa Rica loses structure and creativity; depending this much on one man is never a good plan.

It is obvious that not having Keylor Navas can make a huge difference for Costa Rica, but the goalkeeper is not responsible for the lack of goals by the team, and the defensive mistakes made.

Granted, Spain is one of the best teams in the world, but it’s in a level that any team should aspire to reach, there is no shame in losing to Spain, but losing to Spain, 5-0 in a friendly match and showing no resources is both embarrassing and scary.

Costa Rica’s head coach Oscar Ramírez, has a lot to consider and a lot of homework. Time is an issue, the Russia World Cup begins in June, and players have other responsibilities.