Sporting midfielder included in Costa Rica squad for coming tournament

As exptected, Bryan Ruiz will feature for in the Copa America Centenario, being held form the 3rd to the 26th of June in the United States.

The Costa Rican national coach Ramírez called up a total of 23 players to his squad and will be looking to repeat the magic of 2104, when Costa Rica reached the World Cup quarter-finals.

Ruiz and Co will open their campaign against Paraguay on the 4th of June, before facing the hosts on the 8th and Colombia on the 12th.

Three-nil win against Jamaica puts Costa Rica in driving seat in CONCACAF group B.

Bryan Ruiz once again captained Costa Rica this week, this time for a 3-0 win against Jamaica that all put grantees his side top spot in CONCACAF group B.

After Borges opened the scoring in the 7th minute, the Alvalade forward found the back of the net in the 37th minute with a rocket of a shot. Venegas closed the scoresheet 12 minutes from time.

Bryan Ruiz back in scoring form with brilliant effort against Arouca

"I dedicate my goal to the fans who have been supporting me a lot. I have felt great our last two games, but I was finding it hard to score", opened Bryan Ruiz in a post-match interview, before reflecting on his side's overall performance: "We played really well. We have been in great form, all we needed was goals. We were clinical today and scoring four in the first-half helped a lot. We are really happy, but of course we want more."

Jorge Jesus looks ahead to Liga NOS matchday 26

Jorge Jesus is expecting a tough trip to Estoril this weekend, however the Alvalade coach is expecting his side's quality to secure the three points.

“Amoreira is always a difficult place for big teams to play. Our objective is to win of course and we know it will be hard, but we are confident, just like our fans are. As far as I know Amoreira has already sold out, which has been normal this year wherever we play. The fans have done us proud this season", opened Jesus, going on to reflect on the season so far: "What matters is that we focus on the facts: when we started the season, we said that we wanted to be in the fight for the title and that is exactly where we are. there are nine games left and we are in the fight."

Bryan Ruiz is still not certain for Saturday's encounter after picking up a knock last weekend, in what was a tough Lisbon derby. "Bryan only trained today and yesterday. A lot has been said about the tackle put in on him, but he has that much class that he even forgave Renato's foul on him. We are trying to get him ready for tomorrow and we will see how it goes. Bryan is an excellent player with a real intelligence on the pitch. He knows what he can do and he knows that everyone makes mistakes, but that doesn't take away from a player's quality."

Estoril-Sporting CP will kick off at 18h30 tomorrow, in Estádio Coimbra da Mota. 

Main team

Sporting's medical department have released the following clinical update:

Bryan Ruiz – knock to the left knee - in treatment
Jefferson – twisted right ankle - in treatment
Bruno Paulista – muscle injury in the right thigh - in treatment

Bryan Ruiz on Monday night's Liga NOS win

Bryan Ruiz was once again one of the stand-out performers this Monday night, setting up Ewerton for Sporting's first and netting a goal of his own with a kind deflection from a free-kick.

“It was an important win and it is three more points in the fight for the league", said the Costa Rican in a flash interview at the final whistle, going on to add: "What happens depends on us, so all we have to do is think about what we have to do. If we do that, we will be champions."

To finish, the skillful attacker looked ahead to Thursday's visit to Leverkusen: "We know it will be hard, but we have the capacity to win. It won't be easy, but we will try. Sporting has never won in Germany, but there is a first time for everything."

Costa Rican forward bettered only by Chicharito Hernandez

Bryan Ruiz has finished runner-up in the election for CONCACAF Player of the Year, missing out only to the Mexican Javier Chicharito Hernandez, who curiously will face the Costa Rican in Sporting's coming Europa League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen.

PSV's Andrés Guardado finished in third in voting that also included Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Oribe Peralta (America), Rodolph Austin (Brondby), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Hirving Lozano (Pachuca), Jesús Corona (FC Porto) and Cyle Larin (Orlando City).

Bryan Ruiz was also named for the CONCACAF Best XI, in a group which also includes Tim Howard, Chicharito, Joel Campbell, Hector Moreno and Andrés Guardado.

President's interview with EFE

President Bruno de Carvalho gave an extensive interview to the Spanish news agency EFE this week, talking about various themes affecting national nad international football.

Funds were also inevitably reflected on, as well as Andre Carrillo, Bryan Ruiz's form and bids for William Carvalho.

Various references to the interview can be found below:

ABC

America TV

As

Cero a Cero

Deportes Terra

Diez

El Comercio

EFE

ESPN

El Dia

Express

Futbol Centro America

Iusport

La Republica

Latina

Marca

Mundo Deportivo

Sport

Teletica

Transfermarkt

Univision

WRadio

First team injury news

- Tobias Figueiredo: twist to the right knee. In treatment;

- William Carvalho: myalgia in the left thigh. In treatment;

- Bruno Paulista: muscle injury in right thigh. Conditional training;

- Bryan Ruiz: shock to left knee. In treatment.

Costa Rican finishes close second in Player of the Week nominations

Bryan Ruiz finished a close second in the Europa League Player of the Week nominations this week, after his brilliant performance against Besiktas which saw him score Sporting's second in a 3-1 win.

Ruiz talled 43% of the vote to finish behind Fenerbahçe captain Gökhan Gönül.

Also in the running for the award and all finishing with 1% of the vote were Erik Lamela (Tottenham), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (B. Dortmund), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Choupo-Moting (Schalke 04), as well as Piotr Trochowski (Augsburg) and Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool) with 0%.