Costa Rica beats Northern Ireland 3-0 in pre-World Cup friendly

San Jose, June 4 (IANS) Costa Rica's national team has bid farewell to their fans with a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland in a friendly match here at the National Stadium as 35,000 fans gave a standing ovation to goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Navas, currently a goalkeeper for Spanish Club Real Madrid, was replaced in the 34th minute, and received a resounding ovation during the Sunday match, Efe news reported.

Midfielder Johan Venegas, forward Joel Campbell and defender Francisco Calvo each scored a goal for their team in the 29th, 46th and 65th minute, respectively.

The Costa Rican team, headed by Oscar Ramirez, played the pre-World Cup friendly against Northern Ireland with speed and good ball control.

Before participating in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Costa Rican team will play two more friendly matches against England on June 7 in Leeds, and against Belgium on June 11 in Brussels.

Costa Rica plays in Group E along with Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)