by Rod Hughes

The national soccer quarterfinals continue with the teams facing two adversaries: their opposition on the pitch and the sportswriters. In fact, you would not even know that the festivities are leading to the big, coveted cup of national championship to hear the writers tell it, but was more a Sunday pickup game in La Sabana Park.
Take the game Sunday that knocked San Carlos out of the running, 1-0 on a breathtaking long shot by midfielder Carlos Hernandez. Other than the winning goal, the daily paper Al Dia called the match “full of yawns” and said Alajuela was playing in “slow motion.” La Nacion said it was that goal and nothing more worth watching.
Meanwhile, Puntarenas was eliminating Perez Zeledon 2-0, Saprissa was downing a surprisingly strong La Brujas team from Escazu, 1-0, Heredia held on to the advantage of its opening win to eliminate Cartago in a scoreless ho-hummer.
So on to the semifinals Wednesday with Heredia meeting Saprissa and Puntarenas vs. Alajuela.