Soccer Odds - US Favored vs Costa Rica on Friday Night

• Thursday, September 1st, 2011

  By  Ken Williams

  

  Costa Rica and the United States play a friendly on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The U.S. is favored in soccer odds at Diamond sportsbook for this match that will be televised on ESPN 2 and Galavision.

  USA -1, total 2.5
  The United States is favored by a goal with the total at 2.5. On the three-way line which includes the draw, the U.S. is -225; Costa Rica is +600 while the draw is +275.
  
  A total of 21 players for the United States will be available for head coach Jurgen Klinsmann on Friday. The key player that is expected to play is Landon Donovan but some other top players will not be in action. Kyle Beckerman, Steve Cherundolo and Clint Dempsey will not be with the team while Zach Loyd and Heath Pearce are out due to injury. Only ten players on the squad (six starters) were with the team for the 1-1 draw against Mexico last month.
  
  Costa Rica is in a state of flux as Ricardo La Volpe is out and Ronald Gonzalez is the head coach on an interim basis. Gonzalez has called up five players from Costa Rican champ Alajuelense and four players from the MLS.
  
  Game Notes
  The U.S. almost never loses when playing at the Home Depot Center. They are 8-1-2 since playing their first match there in 2004. This will be the sixth time that the U.S. and Costa Rica will have played in the state of California with the U.S. winning four of the previous five meetings. This will be the 29th meeting between Costa Rica and the United States with the series exactly even at 11-11-6. The U.S. has a big edge at home though in soccer betting with an 11-3-4 record against Costa Rica. The teams last met about two years ago in World Cup qualifying in an exciting match that ended in a 2-2 draw. The last time the teams met in a friendly was in 1995 in a match that Costa Rica won by a score of 2-1.
  
  Landon Donovan leads all U.S. scorers with 46 career goals. He also leads all players in assists with 47 and in points with 139