Saborio heads MLS group on Costa Rica squad

• by Ridge Mahoney  @ridgemax, May 12, 2014

[WORLD CUP 2014] Four current MLS players, plus former Chivas USA and LA Galaxy defender Michael Umana, were listed on the Costa Rica roster from which at least three will be cut to make up the World Cup squad of 23 that must be submitted by FIFA June 2. Coaches are obligated to name 30 players to either the main roster or a standby list from which replacements can be selected.

RSL striker Alvaro Saborio, a veteran of the 2006 competition, heads the list of forwards. Saborio has scored 45 goals in 108 appearances for Los Ticos. Along with Saborio, defenders Giancarlo Gonzalez and Waylon Francis of Columbus and Roy Miller of New York comprise the MLS contingent on the 26-man roster. Crew forward Jairo Arrieta is one of four players placed on a standby list and will not join the team for training unless a change is made.

Bryan Ruiz, who is on loan from Fulham to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, is one of 11 European-based players selected to the 26-man squad. Everton defender Bryan Oviedo has been sidelined with a broken leg that will keep him out of the World Cup. He underwent surgery in January after suffering a broken leg in an FA Cup game and team doctor Alejandro Ramirez said Sunday he won’t recover in time.

Sabario and Umana are two of four holdovers from the 2006 team that last represented Costa Rica in the World Cup. Midfielders Cristian Bolanos and Carlos Hernandez are the other returnees for Costa Rica, which qualified for the 2014 World Cup by finishing second behind the USA last year in the Hexagonal with a record of five wins, three ties, and two losses.

Costa Rica will train in the United States this month and play a pair of friendlies before departing for Brazil. It meets Japan June 2 in Tampa and plays Ireland five days later in Philadelphia. At the World Cup it plays in Group D with England, Italy and Uruguay, with which it kicks off the competition June 14 in Fortaleza.

Costa Rica Roster (26 players):
Goalkeepers: Keilor Navas (Levante/SPA), Patrick Pemberton (Alajuelense), Daniel Cambronero (Herediano).
Defenders: Johnny Acosta (Alajuelense), Giancarlo Gonzalez (Columbus Crew), Michael Umana (Saprissa), Oscar Duarte (Club Brugge/BEL), Waylon Francis (Columbus Crew), Heiner Mora (Saprissa), Junior Diaz (Mainz/GER), Christian Gamboa (Rosenborg/NOR), Roy Miller (New York Red Bulls), Kendall Waston (Saprissa).
Midfielders:Celso Borges (AIK/SWE), Christian Bolanos (FC Copenhagen/DEN), Oscar Esteban Granados (Herediano), Michael Barrantes (Aalesund/NOR), Yeltsin Tejeda (Saprissa), Diego Calvo (Valerenga/NOR), Jose Miguel Cubero (Herediano), Carlos Hernandez (Wellingtong Phoenix/NZL).
Forwards:Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake), Bryan Ruiz (PSV/NED), Joel Campbell (Olympiakos/GRE), Randall Brenes (Cartagines), Marco Urena (Kuban Krasnodar/RUS)