Birighitti out for redemption

Mark Birighitti chats to TWG ahead of the Costa Rica match

On the eve of what coach Jan Versleijen described as a "must-win" clash against Costa Rica, Birighitti lamented the one that got away.

“Overall I was happy with my performance against Ecuador, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t hold, or sufficiently push away, the shot that led to the goal,” said Birighitti.

“My goal against Costa Rica is to keep a clean sheet which will go a long way towards us getting the necessary points to progress to the next round.”

Versleijen admitted the Young Socceroos made basic mistakes against Ecuador and said it is imperative to beat Costa Rica to stand a chance of advancing to the second round of the tournament.

“It’s only the second game in the tournament, but it can be a deciding game,” Versleijen said.

“The first game is important not to lose. Because, if you lose, you get more pressure on the second and third games.

“For us, the lesson we learned from our first game is that we have to work harder to keep the ball in the midfield.

“The main point for us is we have to get more control of the midfield which is what we lacked against Ecuador.

“We were lucky enough to get a point against Ecuador and that helped us a lot for the confidence and mood for our next game.

Versleijen warned against writing off Costa Rica, which lost 4-1 to Spain in its opening game, claiming the match was much closer than the scoreline suggests.

"We know Costa Rica played a good game against Spain. They were very close to a draw, but in the end, in the last minutes they got three and then 4-1 against," Verseleijen said.

“What we also know about Costa Rica is that they are a technical, well-organised group, playing a short passing game, who are able to penetrate into the penalty area and who are able to play one-v-one’s.

Versleijen hinted there may be some changes to his starting line-up for the match.

“Until now I haven’t told my line-up to the players so it’s a little difficult to tell here," he said.

“Probably I will make one or two changes to the line-up to the one that started against Ecuador.”