By Brian Homewood
MEXICO CITY, Aug 16 - Costa Rica will try to make
history repeat itself when they visit Mexico for a World Cup
qualifier on Wednesday, four years after a historic win at the
Azteca stadium.
The Central Americans inflicted Mexico's first home defeat
in a World Cup match at the arena when Hernan Medford's late
goal gave them a 2-1 win in the match played in June 2001.
The result left Mexico struggling to qualify for the 2002
World Cup and they only secured their place by beating Honduras
in their last qualifier.
This time the story is very different.
Mexico, fresh from beating Brazil at the Confederations Cup,
lead the final stage of the marathon CONCACAF qualifying
competition with 13 points from five games and look certain to
qualify for next year's finals with matches to spare.
They have already beaten the Costa Ricans away, winning 2-1
in San Jose in February.
Costa Rica, meanwhile, are third with seven points but their
performances have been unconvincing and they needed last-minute
goals to beat Panama and Guatemala at home.
The top three in the six-team group qualify directly for
Germany and the fourth plays off against the fifth-placed Asian
side.
TOUGH OPPONENTS
The Costa Rican squad includes four players -- Paulo
Wanchope, Jervis Drummond, Steven Bryce and Gilberto Martinez --
who played four years ago as well as Brazilian-born coach
Alexandre Guimaraes.
"Mexico have always been tough opponents," said Wanchope,
who is Costa Rica's joint leading all-time scorer with 42 goals
alongside Rolando Fonseca.
"But Costa Rica are among the favourites to qualify for the
World Cup and we have to demonstrate this on the field.
"We're ready to win anywhere... Now, we're going to win
again in Mexico."
Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe is equally determined to avoid
a repetition. "They have to feel what the Azteca's all about,
not just the altitude," he said.
Mexico are at full strength for the match although La Volpe
has again left out volatile striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who has
not been picked since he withdrew from the Confederations Cup
squad because he was tired.
The United States, one point behind Mexico in second place,
will be without PSV Eindhoven striker DaMarcus Beasley because
of a hamstring strain as they host Trinidad & Tobago in East
Hartford the same evening.
Captain Claudio Reyna returned to the fold after missing the
last two qualifiers and Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard
has been called up for the first time this year after recovering
from a shoulder injury.
Trinidad & Tobago, who are fifth with four points, are
without midfielders Carlos Edwards, who pulled up with a thigh
strain following Luton Town's goalless draw against Leeds United
at the weekend, and Brent Rahim.
Guatemala, fourth with four points, and Panama, who are
bottom with two, meet in the other game, both needing to win to
revive their hopes.
Panama's confidence has been boosted by their surprising
performance at last month's CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United
States, when they finished runners-up to the hosts and twice
beat Colombia on the way.