World Cup: Coaches quit in Mexico and Costa Rica; “Azzuri” and “les Blues” play for title

Several coaches of Latin American squads have thought about quitting now that they’ve been eliminated from this year’s World Cup tournament. One of these is Argentine-born Ricardo Lavolpe (left image) who is rumored to leave Mexico’s national team and will surely be hired to coach a European-based club. Alexandre Guimaraes left last week from coaching Costa Rica citing safety concerns after a foul homecoming from fans angry at the team’s winless performance. Gumaraes and possibly Lavolpe join former Argentina coach Jose Pekerman who quit after Argentina’s quarterfinal exit.

In semifinal action held on Tuesday and Wednesday, Italy beat Germany 2-0 in extra time with extraordinary refereeing by Mexico’s Armando Archundia (right image) and France won 1-0 against Portugal on an iffy penalty call by Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda.

soccer, world cup, argentina, Costa Rica, mexico, uruguay