Keylor Navas’ Costa Rica qualifies to the World Cup in dramatic fashion

It’s World Cup qualifier time, which means Real Madrid’s players are deep in the hunt for a spot in the 2018 tournament. One Madrid player, Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas, helped his National Team lock up a spot in quite dramatic fashion.

Costa Rica made a name for themselves in the last World Cup in 2014. There, they managed to beat Uruguay and Italy en route to an eventual quarter-finals appearance, where they were cruelly eliminated on penalties by Holland. At the heart of that team was then-Levante goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Navas goalkeeping helped lock down an intense, tough-to-beat Costa Rican defense, and his performance at the World Cup earned the notice of Florentino Perez, who signed Navas not long after the tournament.

It looks like Navas will get his chance to shine again on the international stage in 2018, as his Ticos have secured qualification to the World Cup. It took a hard-fought 1-1 draw, but Navas and his men are now through to the World Cup.

Navas had quite a bit to do during the 90 minutes, making a few crucial saves to keep Honduras from running away with the match.

He was not able to keep a clean sheet, though, as Honduras went ahead in the 66th minute through an Eddie Hernandez header. It looked as if Keylor Navas’ dreams of once again guiding his team through a World Cup group stage would be quashed, as Costa Rica’s chances of qualification would have been put seriously in danger with a loss.

The match was in its death throes. It was the fifth minute of a minimum six minutes added time. It seemed a near impossible task for the Ticos to overcome. But then, channeling the spirit of Sergio Ramos, Costa Rica’s Kendall Watson leapt over the Honduran defense to put his head to a Bryan Ruiz cross, into the back of the net. To get an idea of just how much this meant to Costa Rica, check out how the Costa Rican announcers called the goal:

With that goal, the match ended 1-1, and Costa Rica secured their berth to the 2018 World Cup. As heartbreaking as it is to see the reactions from the Honduran players, it’s great to get to see Costa Rica back in the World Cup once again.

Next: Real Madrid players set to feature in the 2018 World Cup

Stay tuned to The Real Champs for more coverage of the International Break and the Real Madrid players involved in it.