Keylor Navas, Ticos reminded it’s a cruel game

Photo credit: Danilo Borges/Portal da Copa

Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas held a clean sheet and was nothing short of brilliant for 90 minutes Friday against powerhouse Brazil. Unfortunately for the Ticos, the beautiful game can be awfully cruel at times, especially that pesky old stoppage time.

In the blink of an eye, the scoreboard read 2-0 Brazil at fulltime. Philippe Coutinho megged Navas in stoppage time give Brazil the lead it craved throughout. And moments later, Neymar netted a second to figuratively twist the knife. Gabriel Jesus and Douglas Costa notched the respective assists.

By any stretch of the imagination, Brazil was the better side and every bit deserving of three points — hence Navas’ excellence to keep it close. The Real Madrid backstop played like a ‘keeper of such pedigree. The Brazilians bombarded the Costa Rica goalmouth with 20 total shots, 10 of which were on frame. Brazil also owned 69 percent of the possession.

The Ticos’ vaunted 5-4-1 formation — the source of so many sleepless nights for opposing coaches during the 2014 World Cup — once again significantly flummoxed a world-class foe for 90-plus minutes. Costa Rica set up tactically the way it always does, cramming bodies in the central part of the pitch and using effective lateral movement to clog passing lanes and block shots, all the while waiting patiently for the right opportunity to strike on the counter.

But because of Brazil’s dominance, the Ticos proved unable to get many numbers forward. They only generated two shots, neither on target, and one corner kick. Navas and Navas alone kept them in the match. Despite getting nutmegged in stoppage time and letting in another dagger shortly thereafter, on the whole it was sublime stuff from the 31-year-old goalkeeper.

As every footballer to grace the pitch has learned at some point or another, sometimes the game is just a cruel, cruel bastard. Navas’ heroic individual display will ultimately go down as just another side note to a well-deserved Brazilian triumph, but it was a performance that his teammates, coaches and Costa Rican supporters won’t soon forget.

The loss, Costa Rica’s second of the tournament, removed any hope the Central American nation had of replicating its 2014 success by advancing out of the Group Phase.

Group E play will wrap up Wednesday with Brazil taking on Serbia and Switzerland facing Costa Rica. With only the Ticos eliminated so far, the Brazilians, Serbs and Swiss are all still vying for a spot in the Round of 16.

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.

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