Jorge Luis Pinto said that the former Costa Rican soccer chief warned him in 2014 that men’s national team players, such as goalkeeper Keylor Navas, threatened to lose matches so that the manager would be fired.
“The only communication that the president (of the federation) made to me is that if I continued with the national team, the players would lose three games to get me out,” said the Colombian national coach, during a trial in San José, according to La Nación.
Pinto testified through a video conference before a court, as part of a defamation proceeding brought by Navas, Bryan Ruiz and Celso Borges against two leaders, for having said they plotted to fire Pinto.
Both matches are scheduled for 1 p.m. CST, according to Fedefutbol.
La Sele hasn’t played since last February, when it delivered encouraging performances at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament but fell short of reaching Tokyo. Costa Rica was scheduled to face global powers Brazil at the National Stadium in La Sabana before the coronavirus pandemic canceled that match and so many more.
Mexico are ranked 28th in the latest FIFA rankings. Costa Rica are 35th.
“Mexico has always been a great rival of a lifetime, and playing at the Azteca will be the first time for us,” said Tica star Raquel Rodríguez. “I think it’s a good game, as always, to compete and to measure ourselves as to the level we are at.”
The Costa Rican men’s soccer team will face Bosnia-Herzegovina and Mexico in friendly matches in March in European cities, the local federation announced Wednesday.
La Sele will be measured on March 27 against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the city of Zenica and against Mexico on March 30 in a European city to be defined, said the Costa Rican Football Federation (Fedefutbol) in a statement.
The duels will be an opportunity for the Central American team to wash its face after losing the few friendlies it played in 2020.
The matches will allow Costa Rica, with its figures Keylor Navas (PSG, France), Joel Campbell (León, Mexico) and Oscar Duarte (Levante, Spain) to prepare against Mexico before the Concacaf Final Four tournament, scheduled for June, and the Gold Cup in July.