When Edù Rosales learned that the US Men’s National Team would be playing a Copa America match in Chicago, he started making plans to travel with the Minnesotan American Outlaws contingent. That is, until he learned the opponent would be Costa Rica.
Edù was born in Costa Rica and La Sele are in his blood. As he explains it, “Our father played professionally in Costa Rica and gave most of my brothers and myself names of Brazilian players (Edú, Edson, and Yahir). In addition, growing up in Latin America, you pretty much have an allegiance to a club by the time you’re born; we weren’t the exception. So soccer is there pretty much every day since you’re born.”
But spending almost half his life in the US was bound to have an effect on Edù. He recalls starting out cheering against the Yanks with a “Boo‐S‐A” chant, but then he turned a corner, he says and started going “crazy during games.” Now, for every World Cup his family tries “to gather for both Costa Rica’s games and US’ games and cheer for them with equal passion.”
In Chicago, however, Edù and his two brothers will not be splitting their passion equally. Will he feel conflicted? Sure, he says, “It’s a definite conflict but it all boils down to history. I won’t ever go back to ‘Boo‐S‐A,’ but I did not celebrate the 95th minute goal by Jonathan Borstein that took Costa Rica out of direct qualification for the 2010 World Cup and I won’t be celebrating any USMNT goals this Tuesday.”
Edù really traces his love of Costa Rican football back to the Italian World Cup in 1990. Costa Rica made it to its first knock-out round, emerging second in a group with Brazil, Scotland, and Sweden. They lost in the first knock-out round to Czechoslovakia, but the tournament left its mark. “I fell in love with Costa Rica’s resilience and effort, he says before calling it a “‘Classic Little Engine That Could’ story.”
That doesn’t mean Edù has unreasonable expectations; he knows La Sele will have a tough road ahead of them. “Considering the lopsided history of the last few years in which the USMNT wins or ties at home,” he says, “I don’t see much hope for a Sele win.” But he adds that “This same team is the one that finally broke the spell of bad results (albeit in a friendly) by finally winning on USA soil.”
Tonight’s match won’t be easy, he notes, without goalkeeper Keylor Navas (injury) and Defender Kendall Waston (suspension). But he adds this prediction: “I see a tight match in the midfield with the USA doing most of the ball movement while Costa Rica tries to capitalize on quick counters. Overall, I’m thinking 40% chance of a US win, 40% chance of a draw and a very small 20% chance for Costa Rica to take all three points.”
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