海角大神

In San Jos茅's Plaza de la Democracia last Sunday, thousands of fans fixated on the giant screen projecting the World Cup match against Greece. One fan waved his tattered red, white, and blue Costa Rican flag tied to a bamboo pole, as if this small Central American country, in winning in overtime penalty kicks, had just conquered the world.

For the first time ever, Costa Rica has made it to the World Cup quarterfinals, and is the only Central American team left standing.聽Today, 鈥淟a Sele,鈥� as the聽National soccer team聽is known, faces off against the Netherlands. And another win for Costa Rica could help 鈥� at least momentarily 鈥� unite this fractured, troubled region.

Sky-high murder rates, drug-trafficking violence, poor job prospects, and, most recently, the crisis of聽unaccompanied child migrants fleeing these conditions for the United States are among the region鈥檚 most pressing challenges. The number of unaccompanied minors caught trying to聽illegally cross the US-Mexico border聽surged in June and could reach 90,000聽by the end of the聽year.聽

"There鈥檚 not a lot of positive news [in Central America], which is why Costa Rica鈥檚 remarkable performance gives the region something to cheer about,鈥� says Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue.

Central America remains the world鈥檚 deadliest region outside an active聽war zone, according to 2012 homicide聽statistics released in April by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Honduras has one of the world鈥檚 highest murder rates (90.4 per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by El Salvador (41.2 per 100,000), and Guatemala (39.9 per 100,000). Costa Rica鈥檚 murder rate is by far the lowest in the region, coming in at 8.5 murders per 100,000 the same year.

鈥淚 think what ... victory does is remind people that Central America is more than the Northern Triangle [El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras], which these days are often most聽famous for violence and outmigration,鈥� says Joy Olson, executive director of the Washington Office on Latin America.

Soccer mending bilateral ties?

Excitement over Costa Rica鈥檚 newfound prowess on the pitch is spilling over its borders, even to Nicaragua, a country with which it shares a tense relationship. The feuding neighbors are embroiled in a protracted border dispute, and recently elected President Luis Guillermo Sol铆s did not invite Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to his inauguration as a result.聽

Nicaragua has never qualified for the World Cup. Yet after Nicaragua-born Oscar Duarte headed in the second of Costa Rica's three goals against Uruguay on June 14, he became not only the first Nicaraguan to score in the World Cup but helped spark a flood of Nicaraguan love for Costa Rican soccer.

Levi Luna, sports director for the TN8 television station in Managua, says that in Nicaragua there is a strong interest in seeing Costa Rica come out victorious, in part because of Duarte鈥檚 feats on the field.聽

鈥淚 think even beyond [Durate], though, there鈥檚 been interest in Costa Rica as a Central American team, for the surprise and impact it鈥檚 had,鈥� Mr. Luna says.

Duarte landed a red card in the match against Greece last Sunday, which means he won鈥檛 be on the pitch today. But Luna says he still expects Nicaraguan fans to tune in to cheer for their neighbors.聽 聽

Taking Costa Rica's victories beyond the soccer field?

鈥淲henever a small country makes it this far, which isn鈥檛 often, especially from a region that鈥檚 not Europe, it鈥檚 a major achievement,鈥� says Ms. Olson. 鈥淚t shows that a country like Costa Rica can play in the major leagues.鈥�

President Sol铆s agrees 鈥� and hopes to take victory a step further.聽鈥淚n economy, education, politics, culture, Costa Rica is ready to do much more, and this shows that,鈥� Sol铆s told reporters after La Sele finished at the top of the challenging World Cup Group D, made up of Uruguay, Italy, and England.聽

鈥淚n the short term, this is a great thing. But that doesn鈥檛 mean we don鈥檛 need to work for it. Any long-term benefit to the country is the result of hard work from everyone, not just the efforts of our boys in Brazil,鈥� the president said, wearing a red team jersey.

Despite Costa Rica鈥檚 wins at the World Cup thus far, Mr. Shifter warns that the feel-good energy sweeping up fans across Central America isn鈥檛 likely to overcome the region鈥檚 longterm struggles with mutual distrust and bilateral disputes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great story, there鈥檚 a sense of good feelings," Shifter says. "But it鈥檒l be over on聽July 15.鈥�