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All red, white and blue Costa Rican, U.S. fans share colors, passion for qualifier
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- In the stands, both sides waved red, white and blue flags and cheered until they were hoarse. On the field, it was just as even a match. Costa Rica and the United States played to a scoreless tie Wednesday night in their semifinal round World Cup qualifying match at Crew Stadium. "It was fantastic, probably one of the best venues to have it in in the States," said U.S. forward Josh Wolff. "The fans were very passionate. It was a lot of fun." The sign in one corner of Crew Stadium spoke for most in the crowd of 24,430: "Stop the world, it's soccer time." Another sign, written in Spanish, predicted what both sides said later: "We will not be beaten." The monochromatic fans -- everybody wore red -- roared on every foul, oohed and ahhed on every shot on goal and perpetually waved their national flags. Late in the game, after a U.S. goal was disallowed by an offside call, they even tossed beer bottles onto the field, causing Costa Rican goalkeeper Alvaro Messen to race away from the net. "This is our main sport -- like baseball is for you," said Rigoberto Mendez, an announcer for one of the seven radio stations broadcasting the match back to Costa Rica. "We have to win." Behind him -- three hours before the match started -- two dozen men danced while holding a Costa Rican flag aloft, keeping beat with several drums and horns. Another hundred people, most waving Costa Rican flags or wearing one, watched the scene. A couple hundred yards across the parking lot, another group of 100 or so Costa Rica fans blew whistles, honked horns and shook cow bells. Two American fans took it all in, one wrapped in a flag. "This is what it's all about," said Daniel Johnson, a British Airways supervisor in Jacksonville, Fla. He nodded at the Costa Ricans and said he admired their enthusiasm. "We're all together here because of the sport." The crowd also included Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria, president of Costa Rica, and Yazbeck Parrales, a construction worker from Greenville, S.C. Parrales drove the 575 miles in his Dodge Durango with five others. Seven more Costa Rican fans were crammed in another car behind his. "If we lose today, it's going to be sad," Parrales said. "This is something that means a lot to us. This is our main passion." With the tie, Costa Rica virtually locked up a spot in final qualifying for the 2002 World Cup. The United States still has to win its final second-round match at Barbados next month. Frequently the U.S. team encounters hostile crowds even in its own country because the sport is embraced by so many immigrants. "We have a game in L.A. and the crowd is anti-U.S.," forward Ante Razov said. Not this time. Despite a loud and rowdy group of Costa Rica supporters, it appeared there were more American fans. Officials from U.S. Soccer went to great lengths to make its team feel at home in its homeland. Soccer fans ordering tickets from outside the United States were given upper-level seats at Crew Stadium. "We tried to make this stadium as pro-American as possible but there is only so much you can do," said Jim Moorhouse, director of communications for U.S. Soccer. "People that identified themselves as Costa Rican fans were not sold tickets in large groups. There were split up and put up higher in the stands. But unless they said they were Costa Rican fans we wouldn't have known." Acting U.S. head coach Dave Sarachan, a former assistant coach for D.C. United of Major League Soccer, said Crew Stadium was precisely what was needed in this country. "I thought it was a great atmosphere," he said. "We get 10 more of these and MLS will last another 20 years and beyond. This is a terrific facility."
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