Gold Cup 2021: Why is Keylor Navas not on Costa Rica's roster?

The Gold Cup 2021 is finally upon us after several months of wait and the battle for the Concacaf‘s ultimate prize will take the spotlight in the upcoming weeks. Costa Rica head to the tournament full of hope, but they won’t be doing so with Keylor Navas between the sticks.

Los Ticos, unfortunately, won’t be counting on their star goalkeeper, who has had another fantastic season at the elite level. Navas, 34, has been once again a dependable man at goal for PSG conceding just 36 goals in 45 gameswhile keeping 20 clean sheets.

However,truth is that Costa Rica couldn’t completely enjoy their talented keeper over the last few years and they won’t do soin the upcoming 2021 Gold Cup either,which means another setback for Navas’ relationship with Costa Rican fans.

Keylor Navas to miss 2021 Gold Cup with Costa Rica

Keylor Navas during the warm-up for an international friendly between Costa Rica and Mexico in 2018. (Getty)

Even though he shone in the 2014 World Cup and rose to stardom due to his amazing performances in Costa Rica’s run to the quarterfinals, Keylor Navas hasn’t been very committed to his national team when it came to Concacaf tournaments.

This time, Keylor Navas won’t play in the 2021 Gold Cup with Costa Rica for being ruled out with a shoulder injury. The PSG figure was supposedly looking forward to recovering in time for the tournament, but he couldn’t make it anyways.

Navas has already missed the previous four Gold Cup editions, being his last participation in 2011 when Los Ticos lost at Honduras on penalties. From then on, he often opted to prepare for his clubs’ pre-seasons and didn’t seem really interested in playing international soccer unless it was about the World Cup and its qualifying matches.

Therefore,Costa Rica manager Luis Fernando Díaz won’t be counting on Navas for his first official tournament in charge of the team. Los Ticos were grouped in Zone C with Guadeloupe, Jamaica, and Suriname.