Costa Rica 3 Northern Ireland 0: Campbell shines in comfortable win
Joel Campbell was influential as Costa Rica warmed up for the World Cup with an impressive display against Northern Ireland.
Costa Rica enjoyed a winning send-off ahead of the World Cup as they eased to a 3-0 triumph over Northern Ireland on home soil.
Despite the absence of the talismanic Bryan Ruiz, who was an unused substitute, Oscar Ramirez's side impressed in a friendly fixture played out in the midday sun in San Jose.
Johan Venegas' stooping header from inside the six-yard box gave the hosts - surprise quarter-finalists four years ago in Brazil - a deserved 30th-minute lead.
Arsenal's Joel Campbell added a second straight after the interval, sending a low, left-footed shot through goalkeeper Trevor Carson, before his corner allowed substitute Francisco Calvo to head home in the 66th minute.
While Costa Rica – who will expect tougher tests against England and Belgium before the tournament - dazzled, Northern Ireland melted under pressure in the stiflingly hot conditions.
The heavy defeat on the road comes after a 0-0 draw with Panama, meaning Michael O'Neill's squad return home from the short tour of Central America having failed to register a goal during the trip.
The visitors barely troubled Keylor Navas, back in action for the first time since winning the Champions League for a third straight year, during his 35 minutes on the pitch.
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The Real Madrid goalkeeper was nearly caught out by an early lob from Liam Boyce that drifted wide before he was replaced by back-up Leonel Moreira.
Costa Rica opened the scoring not long after a drinks break had temporarily halted proceedings, Giancarlo Gonzalez's front-post flick-on at a corner setting up Venegas to head home from close range.
Northern Ireland had been warned about the home side's set-piece threat earlier in the half too, Carson fortunate to see Oscar Duarte nod over after failing to reach an in-swinging corner.
The Motherwell goalkeeper produced a smart save low to his right to deny Venegas a second before the break, only to allow Campbell's effort to sneak under his body less than two minutes into the second half.
The forward - who spent the 2017-18 season on loan in LaLiga with Real Betis - then set up Calvo to round out the scoring, the half-time replacement easily losing his marker to convert from a corner.