Simoes wants players two weeks before game
Published:Friday | September 18, 2009 | 8:38 AM
Former Reggae Boyz technical director Rene Simoes, the new coach of Costa Rica, already has problems less than a day after being put in charge.
The Brazilian said he hoped to get the team together two weeks before its final group qualifying games on October 10 at home against Trinidad and Tobago and on October 14 in Washington D.C. against the United States.
However, directors of two clubs Saprissa and Cartagines say they will not release their players for two weeks to the national team.
Simoes was named on Wednesday, a day after Rodrigo Kenton was fired for three straight losses in qualifying.
The 56 year old Simoes is best known for leading Jamaica to their first and only World Cup appearance in 1998. He also coached the Brazilian women’s team that won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Costa Rica, which once led the North and Central American and Caribbean region, are fourth with 12 points following losses to Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador.
The United States lead with 16 points, one ahead of Mexico and three in front of Honduras.
The top three teams qualify for next year’s World Cup in South Africa and the Number 4 team faces a playoff with the fifth-place team in South America.