Costa Rica faced Colombia in Bogota on Saturday without Keylor Navas, and Patrick Sequeira took over in goal for the friendly at Estadio El Campin. The move put one of the national team’s biggest names on the sideline and handed the 27-year-old a larger role against a South American opponent.
Sequeira, who plays for Casa Pia in Portugal, was making his 19th appearance for Costa Rica as Fernando Batista kept Navas out of the squad for the trip. The omission was not tied to any injury concern, and it came as Batista pushed to identify the next leaders of a team that failed to reach the 2026 World Cup.
The decision matters now because Costa Rica is not just filling time between friendlies. It is testing what the team looks like without a goalkeeper who has long defined its identity, even as Navas turns 40 on December 15 and remains one of the country’s most decorated players. Batista has not said the move is permanent, but the message from Bogota was plain: the competition in goal is open.
That test has a hard edge to it. Casa Pia finished 16th in the 2025-26 Primeira Liga, conceding 45 goals and keeping seven clean sheets in 29 league matches, so Sequeira arrived with club form that offered both promise and questions. Navas, a three-time UEFA Champions League winner, was absent despite no injury issues being cited, which leaves the most obvious question hanging over the next squad selection rather than this one.
Costa Rica’s next confirmed match is June 10 against England at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, after the team traveled to the United States following the Colombia game. If Batista keeps leaning toward change, that friendly will show whether Bogota was a one-off shake-up or the start of a wider shift in goal.
