[WORLD CUP 2010 COUNTDOWN] Seconds away a month ago from clinching a berth in the 2010 World Cup, Costa Rica must play Uruguay in a playoff that begins Saturday at the Estadio Saprissa in San Jose. The Ticos have the home-field advantage in the first leg, while Uruguay's Celeste has the big-name stars.

Costa Rica must put aside the disappointment of Jonathan Bornstein's tying goal that dropped the Ticos into fourth place and sent Honduras to the World Cup. They do have the advantage of playing on the artificial surface at the Estadio Saprissa, where they have won eight of nine 2010 World Cup qualifiers. The lone loss, 3-0 to Mexico, was the difference in dropping Costa Rica from first place to fourth in the Hexagonal standings.

The last Costa Rica players arrived at training on Wednesday when Celso Borges and Pablo Herrera arrived from Norway.

Uruguay's foreign-based contingent includes scoring stars Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid) and Luis Suarez (Ajax) and Italian-based players Fernando Muslera (Lazio), Martin Caceres (Juventus) and Carlos Valdez (Reggina).