SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – On Monday the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL) announced the hiring of new Senior Men’s National Team Head Coach Ronald Gonzalez.
FEDEFUTBOL made the announcement via its social media channels and later held a press conference to introduce Gonzalez.
Gonzalez replaces Gustavo Matosas and will make his debut as Head Coach of La Sele on Thursday, October 10 against Haiti in Group D of League A of the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League.
In his introductory press conference, Gonzalez stressed that his primary objective is to lead Costa Rica to a sixth World Cup at Qatar 2022.
“There is only one goal, there is no other and it is not negotiable and it is to reach the Qatar World Cup and we are going to prepare ourselves for that,” said Gonzalez.
As a player, Gonzalez played the majority of his career in his birth country with Deportivo Saprissa, plus a stint with Herediano in addition to time in Europe and in Guatemala with Comunicaciones.
He also represented Costa Rica at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy where at age 19 he was the youngest player to score in the tournament in a 4-1 defeat to Czechoslovakia.
Gonzalez served as caretaker manager of the Costa Rican National Team in 2010 and 2011 and most recently managed Comunicaciones.
