Costa Rica came from behind to stun Uruguay 3-1 Saturday at the World Cup, opening the tough Group D with a major upset.
Costa Rica entered the tournament as one of the biggest underdogs to make it out of the group stage after being drawn with Uruguay, Italy and England, but showed no signs of being in awe as it scored three goals in the second half to seriously dent the South Americans’ hopes of advancing.
Uruguay had to leave star striker Luis Suarez on the bench but went ahead when Edinson Cavani scored a penalty in the 24th minute. However, Costa Rica fought back after the break and lone striker Joel Campbell drive in a ball headed down by Celso Borges in the 54th to beat goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Oscar Duarte dived past the outstretched foot of Uruguay’s Cristian Stuani to head in the winner for the Central Americans, and substitute Marcos Urenaadded the third with six minutes left, catching out Muslera to slot the ball in from a tight angle.
It was Costa Rica’s first World Cup victory since beating China in the group stage in 2002.
”What counted is that we stayed calm and kept creating opportunities against a very tough team,” Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto said. ”We have great respect for Uruguay but we weren’t that impressed tonight and we able to play our game the way we wanted. So it was a big win for us.”
Uruguay started with striker Diego Forlan alongside Cavani but the 35-year-old made little impact and was substituted on the hour for Nicolas Lodeiro.
