by Rod Hughes

Costa Rica’s All-Star soccer team managed to set a record for itself yesterday in Kingston, Jamaica: 10 matches without a win. They managed this dubious feat with a 1-1 tie with their Jamaican counterparts. The natives around Ticolandia are restless.

At minute 78 in yesterday’s match, it appeared that the blue, white and red were about to break their negative streak when Victor “el Mambo” Núñez broke the scoreless tie on a pass from midfielder Andrés Gómez. This was after a rocky first half in which Jamaica’s Denmark Phillips had rebounded a spectacular shot off the goal frame, and after the home side’s numerous assaults demonstrating a singular lack of marksmanship.

But the Tico ascendency only lasted into the first minute of injury overtime when Tyrone Marchall took Marlon King’s centering of the ball, literally using his head, andguiding it past Costa Rican goalie Ricardo González for the tying effort. Bye-bye Tico victory.