COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Costa Rican forward Joel Campbell will miss Wednesday night’s World Cup qualifier against the United States because of a sprained right ankle.
Forward José Guillermo Ortiz will not play in the game because of a positive COVID-19 test, the Costa Rican Football Federation said Monday.
Christian Bolaños, a 37-year-old winger with Saprissa, replaced Campbell on the roster. Álvaro Saborío, a 39-year-old forward with San Carlos, took Ortiz’s spot.
Campbell has 21 goals in 107 international appearances, including a pair in the 4-0 win over the visiting United States in a November 2016 qualifier, the last match before the U.S. Soccer Federation fired Jurgen Klinsmann and replaced him with Bruce Arena.
Campbell played the entire match in Sunday’s 2-1 win over visiting El Salvador. He was diagnosed with a grade 3 sprain by Dr. Alejandro Ramírez following an MRI, and Campbell was not on the Ticos charter flight Monday to Columbus.
Ortiz played until the 75th minute and developed COVID-19 symptoms after the match. His infection was confirmed by an antigen test and a PCR test. The federation said all other players and staff tested negative on Oct. 3, 6 and 9, and they were given antigen and PCR tests Monday before the flight.
Costa Rica has six points from five games in the 14-game final round of North and Central America and the Caribbean qualifying, trailing Mexico (11), the U.S. and Panama (eight each) and Canada (seven). The top three nations qualify for next year’s World Cup and the fourth-place nation in the eight-team group advances to a playoff.
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