Costa Rica's top goal scorer says team can win through group A in World Cup

Paulo Wanchope, 29, the top goal scorer of Costa Rica's national soccer team, said in a statement on Sunday that the team had a good chance of going through into the second round of the 2006 German World Cup.

Wanchope said that Group A, where Costa Rica will play against Germany, Poland and Ecuador, is one that "deserves utmost respect" but it is also makes the second round accessible. Costa Rica's "tricolor" team will play the opener against hosts Germany on June 9 in Munich.

The German competition is Costa Rica's third World Cup. Its first was Italy in 1990 and its second Tokyo-Seoul in 2002.

Germany is not having the best time, but it is favorite because of tactics and because it is the host, said the forward, who plays for Qatari league team Al-Garrafah.

Poland could be a strong rival with its fast and well-organized football, while Ecuador practices the typical South American style where tactics prevail, said the forward.

The game against Germany was one "which I had never dreamed of: a great privilege and a great opportunity to show off our football."

"We have to prepare ourselves mentally from this moment on, so that the pressure generated by an international event does not affect us, because this is a game that the whole world will talk about," Wanchope said.

Wanchope has scored 43 goals in 67 international games, since he started with Costa Rica in 1996. In October, the "tricolor" veteran said he wanted to end his international career after the World Cup, which runs until July 9 next year.

Source: Xinhua