Costa Rica goalkeeper Navas fit to face Spain in World Cup opener
KEYLOR Navas will be fit to face Spain in Wednesday’s World Cup Group E opener, Costa Rica assistant coach Ronald Gomez said.
Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Navas has not featured for Christophe Galtier’s side in Ligue 1 this season, acting as deputy to Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma.
A lower-back issue for Navas raised fears the 35-year-old would not recover in time for Qatar, before Costa Rica’s sole World Cup warm-up game scheduled for Thursday against Iran was cancelled.
The former Real Madrid keeper will still be capable of featuring against Spain, though, according to Luis Fernando Suarez’s assistant Gomez.
“He has had some pain in his back, but it is already solved, so we now expect him to play the matches and offer what he has always given to us, which is reliability and good management of games,” Gomez said on Saturday.
The experienced coach Suarez will go to a third edition of FIFA’s top competition with a different nation, but has come under some scrutiny for selecting 37-year-old Bryan Ruiz.
Gomez assured Ruiz was selected on merit, though, after doubts were cast on the choice to pick Costa Rica’s second-most capped player.
“Everybody knows him. We all know what Bryan represents to this national team and our football history,” Gomez added. “He deserves to be here, he’s earned it, it is not a gift from our coach. He has the quality, although we will have to see how many minutes he is capable of playing. But for me, to bring Bryan is perfect.”