Costa Rica makes three roster changes for Gold Cup

CARSON, California - Costa Rica won’t have the services of Andy Furtado, Christian Bolanos or Michael Umana at the Gold Cup, replacing them on its roster with Josimar Arias, Warren Granados and Pablo Salazar.

The Costa Rican federation late last week announced that Furtado’s “A” sample had tested positive for a banned substance during the Costa Rican league finals, while Bolanos wasn’t released by his club team, IK Start of Norway, and Umana sprained a left knee ligament June 27 against Venezuela.

Furtado has scored two goals in three games for Costa Rica during its World Cup qualifying bid, helping them to the top of the CONCACAF final round standings at its midpoint.

“The whole situation is unfortunate but we have to apply the FIFA regulations and doping regulations and there’s not very much we can do,” Costa Rican football federation General Secretary Joseph Ramirez said.

The circumstances deal a blow to Los Ticos’ hopes of winning its first Gold Cup and potentially its World Cup qualifying chances.

Manager Rodrigo Kenton also will have to adjust to the loss of Bolanos and Umana as his squad heads into its Gold Cup opener against El Salvador on Friday.

Kenton called on Bolanos, who expressed interest in playing, but the club refused to release him claiming Bolanos didn’t want to participate in the Gold Cup.

That prompted Costa Rica to drop Bolanos and send a complaint to FIFA.

“We are in the final stretch and it’s not a good time for a club to start acting in this way particularly for the players,” Ramirez said. “The coaching staff is going to figure out who’s going to play and is going to participate in the World Cup, so it’s matter of opportunities and priorities.”

Despite the changes, particularly the loss of Furtado, Kenton has no plan to alter his team’s style of play heading into the Gold Cup.

“We go with the same approach to all the different teams, be it El Salvador, USA or Mexico,” Kenton said. “We try to have a pattern and style and we don’t change it depending on the opponent. We always continue straight and want consistency and keep the same rhythm and the same speed.”

By Vijay Setlur

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