Keylor Navas hoping to improve poor record against Mexico
The Costa Rica national team will host Mexico at the Estadio Nacional for the second game of the final round of the World Cup qualifiers in CONCACAF.
Keylor Navas is considered to be the best goalkeeper in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football for the trophies he has won in Europe in the last decade. He was a key player when Real Madrid won three back-to-back Champions Leagues and he has won several trophies with Paris Saint-Germain since arriving in 2019.
Mexico has always been a challenge for Navas
Keylor Navas arrived in Costa Rica on Tuesday and played against Panama in a 0-0 draw, the first match of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. The side have since returned home and prepare to host Mexico at the Estadio Nacional on Sunday for matchday two of the round-robin tournament.
This will be a tricky tie for Costa Rica and PSG shot-stopper Keylor Navas. The former Real Madrid man has a poor record against ‘El Tri.’ The first time he played against Mexico was in the 2009 Gold Cup campaign and ‘Los Ticos’ lost on penalties after equalizing 1-1 in extra time.
Then in 2011, Costa Rica lost 4-1 against the Mexico in the same tournament and one year later, they lost twice in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. It was not until 2013 that Navas would help his team beat Mexico for the first time since he became his nation's number one. Costa Rica defeated ‘El Tri’ 2-1 in San José and later on in same year they managed to rescue a point against them in the Azteca stadium.
In 2017, Costa Rica and Keylor Navas would lose twice to Mexico in the round-robin tournament on their road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The experienced goalkeeper has faced the Mexican national team 11 times with a record of 1W-2D-8L. He will be hoping to keep a clean sheet for the first time when they play this Sunday in Costa Rica.