EFE San José 24/05/2024 Act. and las 09:02 CEST
The goalkeeper Keylor Navas announced this Thursday his retirement from the Costa Rica national team after playing more than 100 international matches and three world cups, and thanked his teammates and fans for the support they gave him. they toasted during their career.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling, difficult to assimilate. This stage of my life with the national team has come to an end,” said the former Real Madrid and PSG goalkeeper in a video published on his social networks. Navas, 37, retires from the Costa Rica national team a few days before the start of the season. qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and the Copa América.
“This chapter of my life, full of challenges, defeats and victories, comes to an end. I leave with a heart full of gratitude and with my eyes looking forward, always carrying the name of our beloved Costa Rica, a small country in territory, but big in heart“, he expressed.
The goalkeeper, winner of 3 Champions Leagues with Real Madrid and who has just finished his contract with the French PSG, said that he has fulfilled many dreams that he had since he was a child and that he has achieved it “persevering, fighting with love and determination. More than 16 years ago God gave me the opportunity to defend the goal of Costa Rica for the first time, a day that I will never forget. Since then every moment with the national team has been a A dream come true“said Navas.
The goalkeeper, considered by many to be the best soccer player In the history of Costa Rica, he played in the 2014 Brazil, 2018 Russia and 2022 World Cups, and during his career he accumulated 114 matches with the national team. Navas was a key piece for Costa Rica to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in the Brazil World Cup 2014, tournament in which the team went first in the group after beating Italy (1-0), Uruguay (3-1) and drawing no goals with England.
In the round of 16 Costa Rica tied 1-1 with Greece but advanced on penalties to the quarterfinals where they faced the Netherlands, against whom they lost on penalties after drawing 0-0 in a great day for Navas. “I feel incredibly lucky and privileged,” said the goalkeeper before thanking all his coaches, teammates, to his family and the fans.
Navas assured that he takes with him “unforgettable joys and memories“and stressed that the team managed to “elevate the name of Costa Rica to the highest” in front of “the best players in the world”. Last March, after the FIFA matches that month, Navas left his future with the national team up in the air, because he did not answer the journalists’ questions about his continuity with the national team.
The goalkeeper, whose next club for next season It’s still an unknownwas among the plans of the Costa Rica coach, the Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, for the start of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and for the America Cup of next month.
“We count on him and we hope that he can arrive in the country once his commitments to Paris have ended. They have two league games left and the Cup final. For us it is fundamental who can accompany us in the qualifying matches and in the Copa América”, declared on May 13 the sports director of the Costa Rican Football Federation, Claudio Vivas.
2024-05-24 06:20:59
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