Mexican wave set to ride into the last 16 stage

Mexico beat Croatia 1-0 in their first game thanks to a penalty by Cuauhtemoc Blanco awarded after their opponents were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Boris Zivkovic.

Aguirre, who is expected to select an unchanged starting line-up, also urged his players to heed the lessons learned from the precision of some of the Croatian set pieces. Ecuador’s Colombian coach Hernan Dario Gomez will bring in Ivan Kaviedes for his injured captain and playmaker Alex Aguinaga, who picked up a thigh strain during the first half in the defeat by Italy. (Reuters)

Costa Rica plan a surprise bash for harried Turkey

Adrian Warner

Seoul, June 8: Turkey must rescue their World Cup campaign in Sunday’s Group C clash with a win over Costa Rica after their controversial opening defeat by Brazil.

For coach Senol Gunes, the game in Inchon has always been central to Turkey’s hopes of making the second round. His plan from the start was to beat Costa Rica and China to go through with Brazil, who are second favourites for the Cup behind Italy after Argentina’s defeat.

But his side take on the Costa Ricans, who beat China 2-0 in their first game, without defender Alpay Ozalan and left-sided midfielder Hakan Unsal, both suspended after being sent off in the heated 2-1 defeat.

Costa Rica defender Harold Wallace is likely to start in an unchanged defence after training with the rest of the team on Friday. He had cut short a session with a leg injury.

But coach Alexander Guimaraes has been experimenting in training in midfield, where Wilmer Lopez could start with Costa Rica’s all-time top goalscorer Rolando Fonseca going back to the bench.(Reuters)