"I made the preliminary squad of 25 for the 2006 World Cup, but two players were cut and I was one of them, Ruiz tells FourFourTwo. Four years later, for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, we played the last qualifier against the United States if we'd won, we would have qualified. I scored both goals and we were leading 2-0, but they equalised in the last minute. That meant we had a play-off against Uruguay and didn't make it through."
"That goal will always be part of Costa Rican history, and a part of me forever, he continues. Tactically, we did everything our manager Jorge Luis Pinto asked for. The build-up to the goal was great seven or eight passes before my header. I hit the bar and the ball crossed the line by about three centimetres, but it was enough to take us through. An incredible moment."
England produced their worst modern-era World Cup performance in 2014, finishing bottom of their group with a single point. Costa Rica topped Group D, defeating Uruguay and Italy to reach the knockout stage for the first time. Bryan Ruiz captained Costa Rica and scored the winning header against Italy after a seven- or eight-pass build-up; the ball crossed the line by roughly three centimetres. Costa Rica beat Greece on penalties in the last 16 and then lost to the Netherlands on spot kicks. Ruiz had missed 2006 and 2010 World Cup squads before fulfilling his dream in 2014.
Read at www.fourfourtwo.com
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