Fútbol In Costa Rica - Part I: Who Am I And What Do I See

By: Paul-Denys Calixte

Soccer City FC is honored to present our summer series -- Fútbol In Costa Rica. Harvard student, Paul-Denys Calixte, graciously agreed to offer up some cultural insight regarding how the game impacts the people, from the individual to the nation as a whole. In 2009, he is studying abroad at the Universidad de Costa Rica. His series will run throughout the summer.

When I was first approached with the idea to write an article about the fútbol scene in Costa Rica, I considered the possibility of lumping all of my experiences here into one, trying to cover every facet of the local sporting culture. But I quickly realized two things: there are way too many topics for me to attempt an omnibus article – perhaps a book, but I’ll need a bit more free time to attempt that – and you, the reader, have yet to be convinced that my observations will give you an accurate picture of how soccer permeates regular life here.

With that in mind, before starting with this series, allow me a moment to tell you how I got interested in Costa Rican soccer, and what makes up my perspective.

My affinity with the sport in general was born in 2002, before which my only experience with the game had been playing in YSI teams. The World Cup caught my attention at first only because it was an international event; but witnessing the US dismiss everyone’s expectations in reaching the quarterfinals and the pure guts and determination that got South Korea (whatever your opinion on outside influences) to the semifinals planted the seed of fanaticism that now requires me to check at least three websites twice a day to keep up with the latest news from the sport, wherever it is played. This attraction with the game only grew when coupled with my academic interests: during my high school years I realized how much I find international things fascinating, from the cultural consequences of immigration to diplomacy and interstate cooperation. Because of this, anything that has to do with football at an international level interests me, from the Euro final to the final of the last Challenge Cup that granted India a spot in the 2011 Asian Cup, or how qualifying works for the CONCACAF Champions League.

Case in point: after the letdown of realizing that Brazil’s victory in the Final had put an end to that particular tournament, I made a commitment to keep up with any and every qualifier that would take place, anywhere in the world, whether through reading articles, checking scores online, or watching the US’s games on TV. So it was that I found out about a complete novelty on the North American, or world scene: a national team of another country had hired an American coach, Steve Sampson (no, at the time I had no idea what his legacy was). I had only heard of Costa Rica before because one of my aunts has lived here for about two decades, working with the Catholic Church, but other than that I had never paid the country any attention. And as I caught up quickly with hierarchies in the region, I could not help but laugh as Costa Rica fired Sampson after only getting past that great Caribbean power Cuba (they were the first one to play in and win a game in the World Cup finals, mind you) on away-goals. After that, their campaign stumbled along, continually leaving me with the impression that sheer luck kept them in the competition when either Cuba or Honduras could have eliminated them with just one better result.

And in the final round, after Costa Rica failed to win at Trinidad and Tobago, they decided to bring back Alexander Guimaraes, whose first game back in charge led to a 3-0 pasting at the hands of the US in Salt Lake City. Mexico also beat Costa Rica at home and away, and coupled with the Ticos’ mild performances in the 2003 Gold Cup and the 2004 Copa América, I could not shake the feeling that theirs was an underwhelming team.

To my great shock, then, I witnessed a game that erased my prior disenchantment with them once and for all. By the time the US was scheduled to play in the Estadio Saprissa, they had already qualified to the World Cup in Germany and sent what amounted to a second-string team to San José. Nonetheless, Costa Rica’s complete dominance of the game opened my eyes, and their third goal, the second for scorer Carlos Hernández, impressed me so much that I immediately called my dad over to watch the replay. And at the end I kept asking myself: how was such a tiny country capable of that? On top of booking their ticket to the finals (where they would play the opening match), they had maintained a perfect record at home against the US and showed their true quality.

Fast-forward to 2009: now in my third year of college, I decided to come here to study abroad for a semester at the Universidad de Costa Rica because of my interest in US-Latin America relations, having a family member that already lives here, and a curiosity about Central America in general. And while I am here, I’ve kept my eyes and ears open to everything to do with soccer, including getting tickets for all of Costa Rica’s home games in the Hexagonal so far – given that the Estadio Saprissa has a capacity of about 23,000, the non-scalping tickets sell out quickly – and talking about it with just about everyone.

From here I draw the sources of my “investigation” of Costa Rican soccer: not from interviews with players and coaches, or detailed research into the historical archives, or a visit to the Federation itself; but rather opinions from classmates, friends, the owner of a chicken restaurant near my apartment, an old man taking a break to sit in a flea market, two people who I overheard in a mall sharing thoughts on an upcoming game, commentators conditioning the views of their listeners on national television, optimistic fans willing their national team to victory, and what I personally have seen and heard about how the ball rolls here.

From here on until the second-to-last week of July, every Saturday I will provide an article on a certain aspect of the game here. I’ve already chosen topics up until July 4, but after that, besides giving the local perspective on the Gold Cup, I am open to suggestions on anything you would like me to cover. So if you would like, please e-mail me at pcalixte[@]fas.harvard.edu with the headline “Costa Rica suggestion” and I’ll let you know if I decided to include it in a later article. In the meanwhile, please enjoy the ground-zero view of soccer in “the Switzerland of Central America.”