U.S. team tries newcomers

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Delayed by stormy weather and displaced by a poultry convention, the weary U.S. soccer team finally arrived Friday for a game that may have more to do with which players reach the World Cup than which teams do.

For the United States, today’s game is a chance to test new players and keep a six-game shutout streak alive in qualifiers. The Americans already are set for next year’s World Cup in Germany.

For Costa Rica, this is a chance to win a berth in the tournament before an impassioned home crowd at Saprissa Stadium.

“This is definitely one of the hardest places to come and play, not only because it’s a good, quality team but the fans and the stadium are fantastic,” U.S. defender Eddie Lewis said.

He’s one of two U.S. players who have played here.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the loudest” stadium, but “it’s definitely one of the rowdiest – in a very positive way.”

Lewis apparently wasn’t thinking of Costa Rica’s qualifier against Mexico in February, when spectators threw objects at opposing players, prompting FIFA to order Costa Rica to play its next game, against Panama, behind closed doors.

Bad weather Thursday forced the U.S. team’s charter flight to divert to Panama City, where the Americans found hotels full for the Latin American Poultry Congress. The team wound up at a hotel an hour from the airport.

The clouds lifted and the team flew out in the morning.

The U.S. team hasn’t been scored on in CONCACAF qualifiers since losing 2-1 in Mexico City on March 27.

“We want to end that string and win classification at the same time,” Costa Rica forward Alvaro Saborio said.

A tie – or anything less than a victory by Guatemala over Mexico – would give Costa Rico the region’s third automatic bid to the World Cup.