Costa Rica midfielder Christian Bolanos has insisted that his side will be better equipped to cope with the climate when they take on Italy in Recife on Friday evening.

Both teams won their opening Group D games against Uruguay and England respectively, with another win potentially putting either side into the next round.

While Bolanos is aware of the quality of player that Italy possess, he said that the potentially tropical conditions could act as a leveller.

"Italy have great players such as Mario Balotelli and Andrea Pirlo, who controls all of their play, and we have a lot of respect for them," Bolanos told Gulfnews.com.

"But we'll hope to benefit from the heavy climate. We are used to playing in those kinds of temperatures."

The game kicks off at 5pm on Friday.

Written by
Matt Domm