St. Petersburg June 19 (IANS) Costa Rica s national football team held a training session on Tuesday ahead of their upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup clash with Brazil.
Their training included tactical work planned by head coach Oscar Ramírez which likely took into account the deployment used by Switzerland to tie Brazil 1-1 on Sunday in order to prepare a similar strategy for Friday s game reports Efe.
Before starting the practice Costa Rica midfielder Johan Venegas praised Brazil s key forward saying: "Neymar is a player who can shake off three people marking him. His change of pace sets him out as a very different player he s a star and the less space he is given the closer he has those marking him the tougher it will be for him."
"The important thing is not to let him grow in his game not let him feel comfortable with the game and try to minimize his strengths " he added.
Los Ticos need at least a tie against Brazil after losing to Serbia 0-1 on Sunday in their World Cup debut in Russia due to a free kick from Serbia defender Alexandar Kolarov in the second half.
Costa Rica are at the bottom of Group E after losing to Serbia which top the group with three points while Brazil and Switzerland both gained one point.

--IANS tri/vm