Walter Centeno's header in the 69th minute lifted Costa Rica to a 1-0 victory over El Salvador in a North, Central American and Caribbean zone qualifier for the 2010FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

The victory left Costa Rica alone in second place in the six-nation final phase of qualifying, one point behind the United States and two ahead of Honduras. Centeno delivered the victory, connecting on a pass from the right from Carlos Hernandez. Andy Furtado had a chance to put the hosts ahead in the 24th, but failed to convert a penalty, his weak shot easily stopped by Salvadoran keeper Miguel Montes.

Costa Rica rebounded from a 2-0 defeat by Mexico on Saturday at the Estadio Azteca. With the victory they took their points total to six, including a victory over Honduras in February. El Salvador remained on two points, after draws with Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.

The top three teams from the six-nation final phase of qualifying in the region advance directly to the finals in South Africa. The fourth-placed team plays off against the fifth-placed team from South America for a berth.

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JBrenes
02/04/2009 at 21:05
JBrenes (Costa Rica)
A friendly memory refresher: Costa Rica already won 2-0 over Honduras just a few weeks ago. No team will go to the WC because "they deserve it". Results speak on their own. And yes congrats for that victory over mexico.
tico0206
02/04/2009 at 20:34
tico0206 (USA)
Costa Rica was good, but not as good as Honduras. Just by that display, they deserve to go to the World Cup. The third goal was spectacular. Los catrachos showed what they are made of.
gstone
02/04/2009 at 19:38
gstone (Costa Rica)
Hi fellows: what a tough match this game was. It wasn´t pretty, but hey this is a WC qualification game. Winning is what matters. ES defended its goal very well showing personality and team work on defense; yet, that´s not enough to reach WC 2010. Honestly speaking, I don´t think ES will make it. Costa Rica is not playing smoothly either and need to improve a lot if it intents to be within the top three. As a Costa Rica fan I wish they´ll do, but I see them playing Uruguay for a spot at the WC 2010.
c7fcbcabj
02/04/2009 at 19:21
c7fcbcabj (USA)
I don't Know how as of late Costa Rica is defeating El Salvador with ease. We are 4-0 against these people. what edge do they have here against El Salvador. They looked prepared against the U.S if El Salvador ever plans to beat Costa Rica they need to prepare exclusively for them. There is no excuse for losing 4 times to the same mediocre team. even Panama was able to beat them. I am without explanation right now, but I will be confused if El Salvador loses the next encounter with Costa Rica. things aren't looking to good if next opponent is Mexico,yeah Mexico is man handled by teams like Argentina or Portugal but El Salvador cant even beat Costa Rica?
Tibbles
02/04/2009 at 19:00
Tibbles (USA)
I'm salvadorean and i congratulate Ticos on their win. Was a hard fought match. Our goalie was on a good day stopped penalty and plenty shots but Ticos played their game right. We missed a shot by hittin post. Missed our key players in our offense. But good game overall. El Salvador will be a tough opponent away. As long as Central America and USA go to world come i think we all Central Americans will be happy leaving Mexico out likein 82'!!
SLVgana
02/04/2009 at 14:50
SLVgana (USA)
Man if only we had beat tnt but cramps and jack warner helped lose us 4 points. and now in costa rica we screwed up, we couldv'e tied.
JcIngenuik
02/04/2009 at 09:24
JcIngenuik (USA)
Costa Rica is a very young team and they will prevail in the top three of this final round. I'm not saying it will be easy, but we will qualify to the 2010 World Cup with points to spare.
SELECTA4EVER
02/04/2009 at 08:13
SELECTA4EVER (USA)
Congrad to the CATRACHOS too, they deserve to win. You have proven that you don't need David Suazo to win games. We still have to meet each other. Is going to be another great classic game. Until them. Sharp your "Tacos" because la SELECTA is comer over. Cheers. LASECTA4EVER.
TicoForever
02/04/2009 at 07:01
TicoForever (USA)
Catrachosd1 and Selecta4ever, thanks for your encouraging words. Honestly, I truly believed we were going to come out guns blazing. La Selecta had something else in mind. Didn't have the luxury of seeing this game, but from the commentaries, we missed a lot of chances (which we won't be able to afford to do against TeamUSA); however, la Selecta must've put up when heckuva fight. For that, I commend you. Keep it up and you might just end up in the World Cup and tie our record 3 times (for non-MEX/USA teams). Between the 3 of our teams, we'll represent CentroAmerica very well if we continue improving. Next up for la Selecta is a disillusioned "el Tri" and for us and Honduras (us first), TeamUSA at el Saprissa and "el Olymico" before sending them off to the Confederations Cup. Let's continue putting points on the board whether through ties (away) or wins (at home).
SELECTA4EVER
02/04/2009 at 06:48
SELECTA4EVER (USA)
I'm very disappointing, we couldn't score in the last third quarter of the game, and we ended being scored out. Congratulation TICOS you are in the second place in the tournament. Hopefully you make it to the WC. Cheers LASELECTA4EVER