Jorge Luis Pinto has hit back at Jose Mourinho over claims that his Costa Rica team will be unable to follow up their victory over Uruguay by beating Italy today.

Pinto's side produced one of the shocks of the World Cup thus far by registering a 3-1 win over the South Americans in the Group D opener on Saturday.

Mourinho has previously said that a follow-up victory is unlikely, claiming that the Costa Ricans' element of surprise is gone, but the 61-year-old hopes to silence the Portuguese by proving that lightning can strike twice.

"I am really surprised that Jose Mourinho said something like that," he told reporters ahead of facing the Azzurri tonight.

"He plays Sundays and Wednesdays and he is not able to repeat what he did the match before? Of course he is.

"We know that Italy is a very difficult opponent but we are confident that we will be able to repeat our performance. We hope to play even better than we did against Uruguay."

This evening's clash with the 2006 winners is scheduled to kick off at 5pm.