The Costa Rican striker of Dutch Twente, Manfred Ugalde, announced on Tuesday his resignation from the Central American country’s team while the coach is Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez, whom he points out as having publicly disqualified him.
«For the first time I heard a coach disqualify a footballer in this way, unfortunately it was my turn. I have thought a lot about this situation, so I have been slow to make a decision that, although very painful, I feel is the right one for my career at this time. Today I am writing to inform you that I have decided to resign from the Costa Rican national team while Mr. Luis Fernando Suárez is the coach, “said Ugalde on his social networks.
The 19-year-old and one of the greatest promises of soccer in Costa Rica, played the first game of the octagonal final of Concacaf towards the Qatar 2022 World Cup against Panama on September 2 and was substituted in the second half; then he went to the bench against Mexico on the 5th and on the 8th he was not called up for the game against Jamaica.
When questioned by the press about the situation, the coach Suárez said that against Panama “the vast majority of the duels he lost” and that a similar match was going to be presented against Jamaica in which “you had to crash a lot” and that to it preferred to other footballers.
These statements were harshly criticized by the local press, which even presented statistics of the matches that refuted Suárez’s version, and even stressed that Ugalde was one of the best players in the 0-0 draw in Panama, in a match in which Costa Rica played poorly and did not finish directly on goal.
Ugalde explained in his statement on Tuesday that his resignation from the national team “is not for fear of competing and much less for wanting to be treated with a preference” but because “I was exposed publicly, my performance was judged for reasons that even the press He managed to deny it ».
“It is not a matter of injured ego, it is a matter of healthy competition and mutual respect,” said the young forward who last season made the leap from local Saprissa to Belgian Lommel, from where he left this campaign for Dutch Twente.
Ugalde affirmed that for him wearing the national team jersey is a pride and a dream he had had since he was a child, and wished the team success to “fulfill everyone’s dream: to see Costa Rica again in a World Cup.”
Under the command of Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez, Costa Rica started the tie badly with a 0-0 draw in Panama, a 0-1 home defeat to Mexico and a 1-1 draw, also at home, against Jamaica.
In October, the Tico team will play a good part of its chances of qualifying for Qatar, when it visits Honduras on the 7th, receives El Salvador, on the 10th, and visits the United States, on the 13th. EFE
Here is the player announcement:
