At the airport, Costa Rican soccer fans greet U.S. team with heckling, egg tossing

Costa Ricans welcomed the U.S. national team Tuesday night with jeers and by throwing eggs at the team’s bus. Fans still are steamed about their national team playing the United States in a blizzard in Denver during a World Cup qualifying match last March. Costa Rica’s “La Sele” will look for revenge Friday night at the National Stadium.

Costa Ricans greeted the U.S. men’s national soccer team with jeers and chants of “U-S-A. No fair play.”Fans tossed eggs at the U.S. team’s tour bus. Some Ticos asked taxi drivers to arrange a traffic jam as the bus left the Juan Santamaría International Airport outside the capital and headed to the Marriott on Tuesday night.

Fans of the Costa Rican national team, known as “La Sele,” have stewed for months over the last time the U.S. and Costa Rica met in a World Cup qualifying match. In a blizzard, the U.S. defeated the Ticos, 1-0, last March in Denver, Colorado. Members of the Costa Rican squad said after the game they thought the match should’ve been postponed. They protested the result to FIFA to no avail. Supporters felt cheated out of crucial points in the race to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

Costa Rica’s team will have their shot at vengeance at 8 p.m. on Friday in western San José’s National Stadium. But expect fans to ostracize the visiting team throughout the week. The heckling started as soon as the U.S. team exited the airport at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday. A Costa Rican Facebook page is trying to organize a raucous demonstration during the U.S. team’s practices in El Coyol de Alajuela, north of the capital, on Wednesday.

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