Following a lengthy period of air travel that lasted nearly 24 hours, the National Men’s Football Team of Costa Rica, affectionately known as “La Sele,” arrived in the oil-rich Sultanate of Oman, a nation that is strategically located along the southern and eastern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula. La Sele may be a long way from home, but at least one star player was not able to escape his post-World Cup fame as Arab fans entered the team’s training facility.

 

As recently explained by The Costa Rica Star, La Sele’s tour of the Asian continent will consist of two friendly matches against the National Football Teams of Oman and South Korea. Costa Rica’s recent victory at the Central American Cup finals allowed the national team to retain the coveted 15^th rank granted by FIFA, and interim coach Paulo Cesar Wanchope intends to keep that spot by relying on the squad that made historical sports headlines at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil earlier this year.

 

Star players such as strikers Bryan Ruiz and Joel Campbell as well as goalkeeper sensation Keylor Navas were called up to participate in the next two international friendlies. In fact, Navas’ popularity in his Spanish club Real Madrid was fully evident as some fans were able to bypass security to get close to the pitch and yell the familiar “Hala Madrid” football chant.

 

Only five players from First Division teams in Costa Rica traveled from here to Houston and later to Qatar, where they boarded yet another flight to Oman. The rest of the team has been arriving from different spots of the globe where they play for international clubs. Those who arrived on time for Wednesday’s training included Felicio Brown and Cristian Gamboa. Joel Campbell, another player that will surely get football fans in Oman excited, arrived on Wednesday at 6:00 pm. Roy Miller and star striker Alvaro Saborío (Real Salt Lake of the United States Major League Soccer) will be among the final arrivals.

 

The Friday match against Oman will start at 8:30 am (Costa Rica time). Once that match is out of the way, La Sele will travel on air-conditioned buses to Dubai for the purpose of boarding a flight to South Korea, where they will play their second international friendly at 5:00 am (Costa Rica time).