Costa Rica Soccer Shuts Out South Korea

AP -Alvaro Saborio scored on a penalty kick 40 minutes into the first half, leading Costa Rica to a 1-0 win over South Korea on Saturday.

Goalies Jose Francisco Porras and Wardy Alfaro combined on the shutout for Costa Rica, which was playing for just the second time since the World Cup qualifying tournament last October. Costa Rica will face host Germany, Poland and Ecuador in the opening round of the World Cup beginning in June.

Saborio's goal, coming after he was tripped up on a breakaway threat, was the lone offensive highlight of a match dominated by defense. South Korea controlled the ball the majority of the game, particularly in the second half, but couldn't get a shot past Porras or Alfaro.

Porras made a diving deflection off a shot from South Korea midfielder Chun-Soo Lee less than a minute after Saborio's goal, while Alfaro knocked away two shots late in the second half.

The combined efforts from Porras and Alfaro is a good sign for a Costa Rica team many expect to go deep in the World Cup tournament. Costa Rica, ranked 21st by FIFA, already has a win over the United States earlier this month in an evaluation match and will travel to face Iran in Tehran on March 1.

South Korea, which features five players from the national team that reached the World Cup semifinals in 2002, was coming off a 3-0 win over defending Major League Soccer champion Los Angeles on Feb. 8 but couldn't get anything into the net against Costa Rica.

Jae-Jin Cho's header deflected off the right bar 74 minutes into the match and just missed going in before Alfaro knocked the ball away. Chu-Young Park then later missed a clear shot from 30 yards away, the ball sailing wide right of the net.

It was the first time South Korea has been shut out since losing 1-0 to Saudi Arabia in a World Cup qualifier last August. South Korea next plays at Mexico on Wednesday.