Costa Rica Manager Insists Ticos Could Not Have Done Anything More to Stop Irresistible Brazil

Costa Rica manager Oscar Ramirez has admitted that there was little his team could do to stop 'one of the best teams' in the world on Friday afternoon, as they lost 2-0 to Brazil. Los Ticos held out for an entire 90 minutes before Philippe Coutinho managed to eventually open the scoring, and Ramirez's players gave a good account of themselves considering the situation.

Epitomised by the brilliant performance turned in by goalkeeper Keylor Navas, Costa Rica put up one hell of a fight to stop the expected onslaught from Brazil. The 2-0 scoreline certainly did not reflect the performances from either team (Neymar doubled Brazil's lead six minutes after Coutinho scored).

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And manager Ramirez has now admitted that there was nothing they could do to stop Tite's side.

"I don't know what more we could have done. Considering what I had at my disposal and what they had, it was a good effort. They are one of the best teams in the world," said Ramirez, via ESPN.

"We had a plan, a strategy, and an idea for how to control the opponents with and without the ball and in the first half we had enough possession and opportunities.

"We knew Brazil's strengths and we wanted to minimise them and we managed to do so for nearly 91 minutes," he added.

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Unfortunately for the nation, the loss to Brazil now sees them out of the World Cup. Two defeats in their opening two games will be a heavy blow to the team that could've easily picked up points in both matches they played.