July 9 – Thousands of fans turned out to greet Costa Rica’s footballers when they arrived home after reaching the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in their history.
The tournament’s surprise package, who won friends throughout the tournament and in Keylor Navas had arguably the best goalkeeper in the competition along with Germany’s Manuel Neuer, were feted like returning heroes when they touched down in San Jose.
The tiny Central American country, which has a population of just 4.5 million, were widely tipped to finish bottom of a group comprising three previous World Cup winners but picked up seven points and only lost on penalties to the Netherlands in the last eight after knocking out Greece in a similar shootout.
Teams across Europe are already vying to buy Navas from Levante, with Bayern Munich reported to be keen of paying $13.5 million for his services. But that seems an unlikely move given Bayern already have Neuer. More likely seems a move to Atletico Madrid, Arsenal or Liverpool who all have apparently expressed interest.
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