As we said at the start of this tournament and maintain to this moment, Group A is the toughest one of this Copa America Centenario. Last Saturday, the Costa Rica National team wasn't able to get past the goalless draw against Paraguay, this puts things way more difficult for both teams because the United States are wounded after losing against Colombia and they will go all out for blood when they clash.
This is something that Costa Rica manager Oscar Ramirez was well aware of before facing Paraguay on Saturday, he desperately needed three points in order to play against the USA with a relative peace of mind. But the draw without scoring any goals complicates things quite a bit for both sides. Because with the way Colombia played already, we can say that the second spot of the Group will be disputed between the rest of the teams.
After the draw against Paraguay, Ramirez told the press that: "We struggled in the first 20 minutes when they really controlled the game. But I thought that after the break we were able to dominate them in the way they had dominated us and in the end we had the chances to win the game. It feels like two points lost rather than a point gained."
Striker Bryan Ruiz also spoke about how difficult it was to play with the humidity and hot weather: : "The heat definitely affected the game. It could have been a much better game in different conditions."
Photo credit: Costa Rica National Team