Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes has discarded four players from the 28-man squad he announced last week for this summer's World Cup finals.

Herediano defender Carlos Johnson, Alajuelense duo Bryan Ruiz and Christian Montero, and Brujas goalkeeper Adrian de Lemos have all been omitted by Guimaraes.

The Costa Rica coach will cut his squad from 24 to 23 players before FIFA's deadline for squad announcements on May 15.

The Central American outfit are scheduled to play three friendlies - against Catalonia on May 24 in Barcelona, Ukraine four days later in Kiev and the Czech Republic on May 30 in Jablonec - before embarking on their Group A campaign which involves games against Germany, Ecuador and Poland.