Deafening Defeat and Controversy Over Compensation

The 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup Prelims kicked off on Friday with fourteen nations vying for the last seven spots in the tournament. Belize, ranked twenty-fifth on the CONCACAF Index, faced off against fifth-ranked Costa Rica in front of a packed FFB Stadium. Unfortunately, we took a heavy loss. But there’s a silver lining – many young players got their chance to shine on Friday night since most of the star players were no-shows. Head Coach Charles Slusher revealed that these key players deserted the team at the last minute. News Five’s Paul Lopez was at the game and filed this report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

On Friday night, a sold-out crowd inside the FFB Stadium witnessed Belize’s Senior Men’s National Team get demolished by Costa Rica’s National Team. The organizers had announced that tickets for the Gold Cup Preliminary match were sold out and that none would be available at the gate. But come 8 p.m., game time, hundreds of frustrated fans with tickets in hand were still lined up at the entrance gate, waiting to get in. They were agitated by the fact that only one gate was being used, leading to a slow turnaround time.

 

Football Fan #1

“This nuh make sense, it is ridiculous. We bought tickets two weeks before the game and now we can’t get in. Watch this crowd here, it is totally disorganized and the game the look to start, national anthem done the play.”

Football Fan #2

“If you guh stand up there you might do a better job than the lack of Police. Chester just get f***ing removed and deh the look to embarrass Rosado.”

The stadium was buzzing with police officers, and word is that only 2,700 tickets were printed for sale, just shy of the stadium’s capacity. Yet, many fans had to stand and watch the entire match. Costa Rica’s Manfred Ugalde, who plays in the Russian Premier League, scored his team’s first goal in the seventh minute. Ugalde struck again in the thirty-sixth minute with a penalty kick, securing the second goal. Only two minutes later Colombian Premier League player Juan Vargas scored Costa Rica’s third and final goal for the first half. Costa Rica came back in the second half and scored four additional goals. After the game, Head Coach Miguel Herrera, who previously coached Mexico to a World Cup and a Gold Cup title, shared his thoughts on the match.

 

Miguel Herrera, Head Coach, Costa Rica

“It is the rival team that we needed to confront. If we wanted to have a superior win, we needed to show it on the field. And the players did that. They controlled the ball well. We dominated the game. When you know on paper that you can beat your rival, you need to show it on the field and that is what the guys did.”

 

The press conference with Belize’s Head Coach Charles Slusher revealed a lot. Slusher revealed that at the eleventh hour most of his key players decided not to play Friday night’s match.

 

Charles Slusher, Head Coach, Belize National Selection

“The result is expected if you don’t play organized football, and you can’t play organized football if at the last moment before the game you have to find new players to be in a situation. When these guys at the last minute decided not to be there, they hurt the country, they don’t only hurt me, they hurt the entire, for whatever reason. I could tell you categorically if I had the team, we had we could have won the game tonight.”

 

Regular national team stars like Woodrow West, Charles Tillett and Jordy Polanco were missing in action. According to Head Coach Slusher, these and several other players decided to sit out because they felt they weren’t being fairly compensated for training and playing in the match.

 

Charles Slusher

“If you guys know the history, before every game there is a controversy over money and everything else. I am always encouraged; I will always fight for my players to get their reward and just. Some of the players could have performed tonight and get an opportunity to get a big contract over the world and make the same money that you say you are not making here at the national team.”

 

After the defeat, Michael Salazar posted a single word on Facebook: ‘SAD.’ When a fan asked why he wasn’t playing, he replied, ‘Home watching, just being a fan now. Can’t do anything.’ With the seasoned players out, younger and less experienced players had to step up, including fifteen-year-old Marlon Meza.

 

Marlon Meza, Player, Belize National Selection

“Of course this loss hurts a lot because we are in our hometown. But for me we did our best, we fought for our country, and it just continued hard work from here.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez