Costa Rica had a rough outing in their first match since the end of the CONCACAF Hexagonal on Saturday, falling 5-0 to Spain in a friendly in Malaga.
Vancouver’s Christian Bolaños and Kendall Waston, Minnesota’s Francisco Calvo and Johan Venegas and San Jose’s Marco Ureña started for Los Ticos, with Calvo going the full 90. New York City FC’s Ronald Matarrita came on as a sub in the 66th minute; his NYCFC teammate Rodney Wallace entered in the 60th for Bolaños.
Spain got things going early, taking the lead in the sixth minute through Jordi Alba. Alvaro Morata made it 2-0 in the 23rd, with David Silva scoring in the 51st and 55th before Andres Iniesta found their fifth in the 73rd minute.
As the final score would suggest, Costa Rica were thoroughly outplayed throughout the match, getting outshot 17-3 and losing the possession battle 72-28 percent to the 2010 World Cup and 2012 Euro champs.
Los Ticos will have a chance to improve on Saturday’s defeat on Tuesday, when they take on the Chicago Fire’s Nemanja Nikolic, D.C. United’s Zoltan Stieber, New England’s Krisztian Nemeth and Hungary in another friendly.
