Peru - Costa Rica

International Friendly

Peru looks really good in this new era under 'El Mago' Markarian, and have won both matches played so far, against Canada and Jamaica, and I was impressed by their play, showing some new life in them. And the new coach also managed to set an improved atmosphere in the camp, and that could also be a reason for the good play. He'll change the system for today's match, as he'll move away from the 4-4-2 used in the previous two games, and will try a 3-4-3 here, which on paper looks good, as we'll have Rengifo, Chavez and Farfan up-front. All of them look in solid form, and I'm expecting them to transfer their league form to the national team. the three-defenders line might look a bit shaky, but Ramos, Zambrano and Vilchez are solid centre-backs, and when defending, Peru's tactical plan can easily change to a 5-3-2, as the wingers Guizasola and Rabanal will probably have defensive duties. For Costa Rica, this match won't probably mean too much, as they are lead by an interim coach, who will be changed after next week's game, and also some regulars are missing, most notably in attack, where neither Bryan Ruiz, nor Saborio or Parks have been called-up, so the strikers will be from the local league, without much experience. In defense we also see some lack of quality, as only Badilla is a regular, and will most probably play along 2 debutants. Peru shouldn't have any problems winning this, and a 2-0 score is my call. GL!

Peru (-0.75 AH) @ 1.85, 4/10

Result: 2-0, WON