SIGN UP FOR OUR 
Jean Carlo Solorzano Returns to LDA. Source: Facebook
For the upcoming exhibition football match against the Honduran National Team on April 11, coach Jorge Luis Pinto has selected 19 Tico players, minus some talented footballers who are making sports headlines in professional leagues around the world. The lineup was published in online news daily El Pais.
Absent from the game will be Bryan Ruiz, who plays for the Fulham of the English Premier League. The incredibly talented Joel Campbell, who currently plays in the French club Lorient on loan from the UK Arsenal, will be watching the game in France.
Two players from Costa Rica currently playing for United States Major League Soccer teams will be in the lineup against Honduras. Striker Olman Vargas from the Columbus Crew and defensive player Porfirio Lopez from the Philadelphia Union were called up by coach Pinto.
A player to watch will be Jean Carlo (Nico) Solorzano, who recently returned to Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA). The young striker had been playing abroad since 2010 for the Melbourne Victory, on the same team in which midfielder Carlos Hernandez Valverde currently plays. As reported in The Costa Rica Star recently, Hernandez caused commotion among Australian fans when he was spotted at a match played between teams in a lower division.
Speaking to daily newspaper Diario Extra, Nico Solorzano stated that while he learned a lot from his experience in Australia, he is happy to return to LDA. He met with La Sele’s coach Pinto yesterday and was immediately called up for the game against Honduras.
The match against Honduras is just a preview of things to come for La Sele on the road to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Costa Rica is assigned to Group C, which means we will have to face CONCACAF powerhouse Mexico, along with El Salvador and Guyana.
The match is scheduled to play at the National Stadium in La Sabana at 7:00 pm.
At a recent press conference, Coach Pinto stated that “Honduras is a good team, they play good football. I have faced them before, and I know they are a tough match. We like playing them.”
