Serbia defeats Costa Rica 1-0 in a World Cup match.
A beautiful free-kick goal by Serbian captain Aleksandar Kolarov secured a 1-0 victory for Serbia over Costa Rica on Sunday, in the opening match of Group E of the World Cup, which has Brazil as the top seed; Costa Rica and Serbia will be Brazil's next opponents after the Brazilian team's debut later on Sunday against Switzerland.
Reuters - A beautiful free-kick goal by Serbian captain Aleksandar Kolarov secured a 1-0 victory for Serbia over Costa Rica on Sunday, in the opening match of Group E of the World Cup, which has Brazil as the top seed.
The left-back took the free kick over the wall, placing the ball in the top right corner, giving goalkeeper Keylor Navas no chance of making a save, 11 minutes into the second half of the match at Arena Samara.
Costa Rica, which had a good campaign in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and reached the quarterfinals, pressed for an equalizer, but Serbia positioned themselves well defensively and came close to extending their lead several times on counter-attacks.
Costa Rica and Serbia will be Brazil's next opponents in Group E of the World Cup after the Brazilian team's debut later this Sunday against Switzerland.
With Brazil as the clear favorite to finish first in the group, the victory gave Serbia three potentially crucial points in their quest for second place, while Costa Rica was left in a difficult situation.