COSTA RICA
20 Winners
(1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
2 Tite
Neymar
The £200million Paris Saint-Germain forward (below) is utterly priceless to the South Americans. That was proven four years ago when his injury in the quarter-final win over Colombia ultimately destroyed the hosts’ chances of glory. He is the jewel in the Brazilian crown again this time around and that is why there have been months of unbearable worry among their fans after a foot injury and surgery in February. Cue huge relief last weekend when Neymar capped his return with a brilliant goal as a sub versus Croatia. Quarter-finals
Neymar means too much to Brazil and, despite his recent performance against Croatia, he will struggle to be at his brilliant best after such a long spell out injured – adrenaline gets you only so far. A potential last-eight clash with England may spell the end of the road this time around.
4 Quarter Final (2014)
23
Oscar Ramirez
Keylor Navas
The keeper’s position at Real Madrid may be under threat this summer but his heroic status in Costa Rica is forever guaranteed. His penalty-saving feats were key to the country making the last eight in Brazil – and he remains their pillar between the posts. Arsenal legend Lee Dixon described him as “the most overrated goalkeeper in world football” last week but he has the biggest stage of all to silence his doubters. Group Quarter-finalists four years ago, Costa Rica qualified for these finals in dramatic style. A Kendall Waston header in the last seconds of their penultimate game – against Honduras – meant they booked their place in Russia instead of their opponents. That, however, is likely to be as good as it gets this time around for Bryan Ruiz and Co in an extremely difficult group.
11
4th place (as Yugoslavia,
1930, 1962) 34
Mladen Krstajic Alexsandar Mitrovic Rattled in six goals in just nine qualifiers to finish as Serbia’s top scorer and scored twice recently in a friendly win over Russia-bound Nigeria. Good form for his country was not enough to convince Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez to give him a run at St James’. Instead, Mitrovic enjoyed a highly successful loan spell with Fulham.
He netted 12 times in 15 games as
Slavisa Jokanovic’s side reached the top flight. His club future may be unclear but what is not is his impact on the world stage.
Last 16
Serbia reached
Russia by just pipping the
Republic of Ireland to top spot, securing their place with a last-game win over Georgia.
As a result, boss Slavoljub
Muslin was replaced by assistant Mladen Krstajic – producing a shift towards younger talent in the squad.