Yosimar Arias scored on a direct free kick midway through the first half, helping CS Herediano beat the Seattle Sounders 1-0 in CONCACAF Champions League group play on Tuesday night.
Arias set up his free kick 25 yards from the goal, to the left of the penalty area restraining arc.
He sent the ball over a five-man Sounders wall, and it curled into the back left corner when goalkeeper Kasey Keller couldn't get across in time to stop it.
''I've always liked to do those type of things,'' Arias said. ''I do them during training time and during games. It's something I like to try.''
Herediano (1-3-0, three points in Group D) handed the Sounders (3-1-0, nine points) their first group play loss.
Seattle still leads the four-team group with two games left.
''We knew it was our last chance to still have a chance in this tournament,'' Arias said. ''So since we left Costa Rica, we were (focused) to come and look for the three points.''
Herediano's only two goals of the tournament have come against Seattle.
The Costa Ricans were outscored by a combined 7-0 in their first two group games before scoring on a penalty kick in last Wednesday's 2-1 home loss to the Sounders.
''Last week was a game that seemed destined that way,'' said Jafet Soto, who took over as Herediano's coach earlier this month. ''(The Sounders) had only two chances last week, and they were two goals.''
Goalkeeper Daniel Cambronero came up big for Herediano, especially in the game's final minutes to preserve the lead.
He went to his left to deny Lamar Neagle's 10-yard header in the 82nd minute, then jumped to tip a 6-yard header attempt by Sammy Ochoa over the crossbar in the 89th minute.
Cambronero finished with four saves as the Sounders outshot Herediano 12-8.
''He has been on the national team at some point, and he's only 24 years old,'' Soto said. ''He has a great future.''
Jorge Barbosa, the tournament's leading scorer with four goals coming into Tuesday's round of games, nearly had Herediano on the board late in the 14th minute.
A Seattle defensive breakdown in its own box resulted in Barbosa getting the ball at the top of the 6-yard box on the right side. Wide open and with Keller beat, he banged his shot off the near post.
Barely half a minute later, it was the Sounders with a near-miss when Neagle's 25-yarder from the left side was floating toward the far post, but was pulled in at the last moment by Cambronero.
''We certainly had chances in the last 30 minutes of the game. But overall, I didn't think it was one of our best games,'' Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said.
''Obviously, we're dealing with injuries and a heavy schedule, and we had to make some lineup decisions tonight based upon that. But at the end of the day, our quality wasn't good enough.''
