If you didn’t wait up for it, you missed a fairly eventful clash between Ireland and Costa Rica last night. Here are some of the best pics from Philadelphia.
The clash between Ireland and Costa Rica might have had end-of-season-friendly written all over it, but with Costa Rica soon to be on World Cup duty and Ireland in search of a first win in quite some time, it turned out to be a quite feisty affair in Philadelphia.
Kevin Doyle was at the thick of the action, scoring with an excellent header inside 20 minutes to give Martin O’Neill’s men the lead. His head was the centre of attention again minutes before the break when it was caught by the elbow of Costa Rica’s Giancarlo Gonzalez, who was sent off after an incident that caused something of a shemozzle involving players from both sides.
Ireland lead at the break but Costa Rica constantly looked threatening and eventually equalised when Celso Borges converted from the spot after David Forde had brought down Marco Urena in the area.
Ireland had the chance to level only two minutes later when Stephen Quinn was fouled down the other end, but the usually reliable Robbie Keane missed from the spot and Ireland had to be content with a share of the spoils, extending their winless streak to five games.
Portugal are up next in New Jersey on Tuesday.