Costa Rica’s footballers take part in a training session at the Vila Belmiro Stadium, in Santos, Sao Paulo State, on Monday. (AFP)

DPA/Rio de Janerio

That a country’s greatest achievement in international football depends on a penalty shootout is enough to ruin the nerves of anybody.

Except the players of modest Costa Rica, that is. Players who calmly converted all five of their penalties Sunday against Greece, to give the Central Americans their first ever berth in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. 

“Education is a fundamental aspect in the development of a footballer,” former Costa Rica goalkeeper Luis Gabelo Conejo told dpa.

Conejo was the acrobatic hero of the 1990 World Cup team, which reached the last 16 by surprisingly beating Scotland and Sweden.

Costa Rica is one of the most developed countries in Central America, considered by many to be the Switzerland of the region. The country’s education system is highly developed, and the consequences of this are being seen in Brazil.

“A person well prepared academically has sufficient maturity to evaluate a problem, handle pressure, and be efficient and responsible in his work,” said Conejo ahead of Sunday’s game. 

The round of 16 match confirmed his analysis, because Costa Rica managed to prevail in the shootout despite playing for a long time with 10 men.

“Several of our players are already professionals and 95 per cent of them are studying at university,” said Conejo.

Midfielder Celso Borges, who put away the first penalty, is convinced that being at university helps the players on the pitch. 

“It helps to understand better the coach’s instructions, to analyse the different situations in a match,” he said after Sunday’s triumph.

Costa Rica’s Colombian coach Jorge Luis Pinto is a firm believer in his “students” being properly prepared and having all the answers before the “exams”.

“He is very strict with regards to our work, and this has helped us a lot tactically,” said midfielder Christian Bolanos, who said that Pinto had planned the penalty shootout meticulously.

The high academic level of the Costa Rican players - who are always well-mannered and articulate, unlike many other footballers - has helped the work of Pinto, who is now planning how to outwit The Netherlands in the quarter-finals Saturday.

“The well educated player understands instructions better, learns more quickly, behaves better on the field and is better prepared tactically and strategically,” said Pinto.

Meanwhile, Bolanos said: “We are well prepared mentally and that is important. Not everything in football is connected with the feet. One has to think properly and be calm in the moments of pressure, and university studies help in this.”

Former keeper Conejo, who is one of Pinto’s assistants, added: “In our country we try to bring education and sport together.”