Soccer

San José, Jun 19 (PL) The Costa Rican national soccer team defeated the Dominican Republic 2-1 today, after starting 1-0 down, and then recovered with goals by Manfred Ugalde and Josimar Alcócer, in this second match of the Gold Cup.

Both players once again saved the Central American team in this CONCACAF event, with the same recipe of timely goals that they applied earlier against Suriname, and calmed the collective anguish of the first half in the face of the Dominican courage, with similar points per capita, first for the tie and then for the lead.

The leading duo of the match became a "trio" with the contributions of goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who silenced with his frequent saves some dissatisfaction about his performance after rejoining the team after returning from Argentinean soccer.

The Costa Rican goalkeeper's customary stretches and displays of vision and touch against Dominican shots and headers, especially in the second half, reminded many why Navas is considered among the top five goalkeepers in the world.

Another player in the Costa Rican vanguard in this match was forward Alonso Martinez, whose speed and vision helped Miguel Herrera's team avoid a defeat or, at the very least, an unwanted draw.

The opening goal of the match was scored by Joao Urbáez in the 17th minute, after a rebound by Keylor Navas, while the Costa Ricans equalized in the 44th minute through a penalty kick by Ugalde, who managed in the 85th minute a filtered pass that Alcócer decoded to make it 2-1.