Warriors return home safely

The national team suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Costa Ricans on Wednesday night, a result which severely dented their hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup finals in Germany.

And on their return trip smoke had been detected in the cockpit of the players’ Miami-bound plane shortly after take-off from the Juan Santamaria Air-port in San Jose on Thursday morning. The plane’s captain John Morrison made a decision to divert to the Daniel Oduber Quiros Airport in Liberia, located north of San Jose.

There are reports that the captain struggled to control the aircraft at one point as it dipped low enough for the passengers to see Costa Rican terrain.

The players eventually got out of Costa Rica yesterday and made it to Miami, where the European and, in the case of captain Dwight Yorke (Australia) and Silvio Spann (Japan), Pacific Zone players left for their respective clubs.