Costa Rican fans shout insults against the players of the Costa Rican national soccer team as they arrive at the airport in Alajuela, Costa Rica June 21, 2006. Costa Rica was eliminated from the 2006 World Cup after losing all three of first round matches. [Reuters]

Receiving the loudest catcalls was national team coach Alexandre Guimaraes, who emerged from the airport to chants of of "Dog! dog!" from a small group of unhappy soccer fans.

Costa Rica lost 4-2 to Germany, 3-0 to Ecuador and 2-1 to Poland, leading to media speculation that Guimaraes, already the team's third coach in little over a year, might need to look for another job upon his return home.

One heckler, 65-year-old truck driver Leo Herrera, suggested the players might do better in an industry for which, unlike soccer, the small Central American nation is renowned for its excellence across the globe.

"Sirs: Coffee pickers are needed," read a sign he waved at the players. "The only requirement: lack of shame."

Gilberto Vargas, 65, brought with him a bucket of water, soap and towels.

"Guimaraes said they were going to wash their faces (with Poland) in their last game," he said. "But they didn't, so I'm giving him the chance now."