Copa America 2011 : Costa Rica 2 - 0 Bolivia

Costa Rica defeated 9-man Bolivia, 2-0, to put them in a good position to advance out of their group in Copa America despite fielding an under-22 team.

Jul 7, 2011 - In Costa Rica's opening Copa America match they had to play more than an hour with 10 men so in their second match when Bolivia had a man sent off it seemed only fair. Then Bolivia had a second man sent off and the Ticos had themselves quite the advantage. They didn't necessarily need the advantage though. They were already up a goal when the first then second man was sent off and had been the better side all match, undoubtedly deserving of their 2-0 victory over the Bolivians.
The Ticos are already at a bit of a disadvantage because they were forced to send their first team to the CONCACAF Gold Cup last month, leaving them with just an under-22 side in Copa America, but don't tell the Bolivians they were short-handed. Josue Martinez put the Ticos on top in the 59th minute when he was able to get to a rebound and slot it home, a goal that finally made the scoreboard reflect the Costa Ricans' good play in the match.
Despite Costa Rica having been better, Bolivia was only down a goal and could still manage a point, but those hopes went out the window in the 70th minute. Ronald Rivero did the only thing he could to keep a goalbound shot from going in by handling it, but he earned a red card for it. The subsequent penalty was saved, but a 75th minute red card on Walter Flores put Bolivia down to nine men, then Joel Campbell score in the 78th minute to wrap things up.
Following Martinez's opening goal, the Costa Rican team gathered and held up the jersey of Dennis Marshall, who died in an auto accident just weeks ago after competing for the Ticos in the Gold Cup.
The three points that Costa Rica gained tonight puts them in second place in Group A on three points with one group match, on July 11 against Argentina, to play. Bolivia will play their next match on July 10 against Colombia and with just one point will almost certainly need a victory to advance