SAN JOSE, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Costa Rican media and fans have expressed their pessimism about their team's chances at the World Cup, following their 1-0 defeat to Serbia on Sunday.
The local daily La Nacion headlined its digital edition with "Costa Rica loses 1-0 against Serbia and the illusion of qualifying for the second round in Russia 2018 goes out."
The critics had seen Serbia as the team in Group E that would be easiest to defeat.
"The next rivals are Brazil and Switzerland, more powerful players than the Serbs," it continued.
Digital news site CRHoy.com also wrote that "Serbia turned off the Tico illusion at the World Cup with a goal," stating that Aleksandar Kolarov's 56th minute strike had left Costa Rica "on the ropes".
The Diario Extra argued that Costa Rica "got off on the wrong foot."
"A goal of Aleksandar Kolarov in the 56th minute ended the hopes of the Tricolor, which until that moment had remained firm in defense. But they lacked depth in the last quarter of the field. The players showed little offensively and when it was in trouble, the figure of Keylor Navas (the goalkeeper) emerged," it said.
Fans were equally pessimistic on social media, stating that the Costa Rican team had shown little creativity in attack, even when trying to turn the game around after conceding a goal.
