Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes has hailed Gilberto Martinez's courage after the defender was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a knee injury.

The 26-year-old aggravated the problem in Friday's opening-day defeat against hosts Germany and Guimareas insists the Brescia man will be sorely missed for the remainder of his side's campaign.

Guimaraes said: "He (Martinez) has shown enormous bravery as always, when he admitted that this is a very complicated situation.

"It's a pitiful loss for us because of what Gilberto represents to us.

"He has always given a lot to the national team and, as I've said in the past, he'll be the captain of the future in this squad.

"Unfortunately, we cannot do anything else with this."

Team doctor Francisco Uribe added: "We hadn't expected this new injury. He has tendonitis and he must totally rest for at least seven to 10 days and then start recovering."

Martinez will return to Italy where Brescia doctors will oversee his rehabilitation.