A new month and a new chapter, La Selecta and Los Ticos on an international friendly.
January was indeed a busy month for El Salvador. So far, the new year started strong after their friendly against MLS side Inter Miami CF. El Salvador sees their second assignment of the year two weeks after this game.
On Monday, January 28, David Doniga, head coach of El Salvador, began preparations for his second game in charge of La Azulita. Both El Salvador and Costa Rica are in similar situations due to recent managerial staff changes. After disappointing losses with Panama in the Nations League, Costa Rica will have their first game of the year. Meanwhile, El Salvador seeks a first victory to end their curse.
The game’s aftermath against Inter Miami CF left good sensations for the men in blue. Mario Gonzalez, the goalkeeper for La Selecta, had a fantastic performance keeping the Salvadoran goal scoreless. The team showed a different face, and the idea that coach David Doniga was trying to implement was notorious. The people in attendance chanted “El Salvador” during the second half of the game praising the good performance by the team.
El Salvador portrayed elevated and dynamic changes, leaving Miami few chances to score, considering Miami had its core four in action. Even though the goal never came, El Salvador showed a different breed and better attitude on both the defensive and attacking sides. The road to victory can happen anytime soon.
What is going on with La Sele?
The situation with Costa Rica could be more encouraging. Last year, they registered two wins in twelve games played in 2023. Costa Rica has not won a game since Jul 8. 2023, when they played the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup vs. Mexico.
Despite the bittersweet results from last year, Costa Rica qualified for the play-in game, in which, on Mar 23. they will face Honduras in a playoff match. The winner of this game will take one of the two remaining spots given by CONCACAF for this year’s Copa America.
The Costa Ricans know this game is no joke, Teletica’s journalist Andrés González said in a radio interview Güiri Güiri Al Aire for the Salvadoran media.
“The friendly against El Salvador is very important for us because here in Costa Rica, we have doubts about our national team.” González said.
Costa Rica announced their roster for this game. Starting with Costa Rica, through their social media accounts, what stands out is that three MLS players are on the list:
- Randall Leal (Nashville SC)
- Ariel Lassiter (CF Montreal)
- Alejandro Bran (Minnesota United FC)
MLS teams are just weeks away for the start of the regular season this month, and Costa Rica opted to build their squad around their internationals and players from the big three clubs of Costa Rica.
What is happening around La Selecta?
On the other hand, Doniga will experiment with a purely local roster except for three internationals from the Costa Rican league. The main reason is that the game is not during an international break, and clubs are not required to send their players for international duty regardless of these events; Doniga understands the importance of having a solid national group.
From Costa Rica’s first division, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, Leonardo Menjivar is on the list, who is currently in talks to be loaned to Alianza FC for the Clausura tournament. Also, Christian Martínez from CS Cartagines and the last man is the left back of Santos de Guápiles from Costa Rica’s top tier league, Adán Clímaco are the three internationals complementing Doniga’s final roster.
El Salvador held their final training session this morning, and the team is flying to San Jose, Costa Rica, on Thursday night. After the session, Doniga addressed the media, expressing the desire to win and admitting that the challenge is bigger compared to the last game vs. Inter Miami.
“The idea is to win; the idea is to prepare the team to win and to be very satisfied for winning, not just for making a good game.” Doniga said Thursday morning.
With all this on the table, both teams will take on the pitch to win, they know that a win will definitely boost their confidence. This friendly will be taking place at the National Stadium in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT. Broadcast details have yet to be revealed to American viewers.