Ex-coaches of Costa Rica think the team will have no chances in the Copa America 2011

SAN JOSE, June 14, 2011 (AFP) – Costa Rica’s national team, coached by the Argentinean Ricardo La Volte, has just a slim chance of becoming champion of the Copa America 2011, that will occur in July, in Argentina. The team will face the hosts, Colombia and Bolivia in Group A, noted the two ex-coaches, Hernán Medford and Rodrigo Kenton this Tuesday.

Costa Rica is playing at the Concacaf’s Gold Cup, in USA, and was invited to play the Copa America 2011 after Japan dropped out. This will bring Argentina a team formed by 17 Under-23 players and five others.

“I don’t think the team will do well in the Copa America not because of technical deficiencies, but because of inexperience”, said Medford. “It is a very important and hard competition”, stated the former striker, who played in the 1992 and 2002 FIFA World Cups, and did very well as a player in Mexico.

Kenton thinks Costa Rica will have a hard time because it is a very tough tournament. “To start, the American Cup is one of the most legendary and old tournaments in the world, it is not easy. It is one of the best competitions we will participate in and will have the best teams, which were already world champions. It is the highest level”, said Kenton to AFP.

Costa Rica debuted at the Copa America 1997 in Bolivia , and got eliminated in the first stage. In Colombia in 2001 Costa Rica fell in the quarterfinals, the same took place in Peru, 2004.

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