Even on a pitch littered with World Cup stars, no goals were scored at the National Sports Centre last night as visiting LD Alajuelense were happy to play for a Champions Cup first leg draw.

Around 1,500 turned out to watch the return of the Concacaf competition to our shores, but the fireworks never quite exploded as the touring New England Revolution failed to breakdown the stubborn defence of the Costa Ricans.

The Revolution, who scored so freely on the carpet last Saturday against Bermuda, dominated play throughout, particularly in the second period.

But despite the US international firepower provided by Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan and Clint Dempsey, the all-important breakthrough never materialised.

The Costa Ricans, employing the full array of time wasting and exaggerated injury ploys, managed to get what was clearly their desired result, often by utilising negative tactics that meant the full quality of their World-cup bound international stars never rose to the fore.

The game got off to a rather lethargic start, with the two sides doing no more than feeling each other out for the first five minutes.

The brilliance of the dozen or so World-cup bound stars on both teams was absent in the early stages with a Taylor Twellman header soaring over the bar and a wayward strike from Bryan Ruiz the only attacks of any interest.

The ?visitors? looked the more lively in the opening half an hour, with the pony-tailed Bryan Ruiz the chief mischief maker while the Revolution?s attempts to bring in wide men Tony Lochhead and James Riley coming to naught.

The encounter became increasingly physical later in the first half as Rev?s coach Steve Nicol?s prediction of an open passing game on the slick surface proving way off the mark as the play descended into no more than a midfield scrap with long balls the pass of choice for both teams.

Slightly against the run of play, Lochhead wasted a golden opportunity to break the deadlock, firing into the side netting from a low cross after a quick long throw had released Pat Noonan down the right.

Neither team seemed prepared to commit men forward, relying on their strikers to chase long balls rather than developing play through midfield.

With away goals not counting double in this competition, La Liga had nothing to gain from sitting back ? yet they continued to take a defensive approach.

Lochhead?s sitter aside, with half time approaching a goal didn?t look like materialising from either side despite the US forward line at one end and Germany-bound Costa Rican strikers at the other.

But following a half-time rocket from no-nonsense Scouser Nicol, the Revs came out in the second half looking ready to do the business.

Within two minutes of the restart, Twellman came close, shooting sharply on the turn and sizzling a half-volley just over the bar before Noonan walloped another own effort skyward.

The passing game so conspicuous by its absence in the first forty five minutes finally made an appearance as the Revs took the tie by the scruff of the neck, attacking with more passion and urgency.

Dempsey, who has scored seven goals in his two tour games so far, steadily rose in importance for the Revolution, becoming the lynchpin for attacks that began to stretch the La Liga backline.

Twellman came close again with a bullet header from eight yards which Costa Rican international ?keeper Wardy Alfaro gratefully clasped to his chest.

The US striker then grazed the outside of Alfaro?s post with a powerful drive from the edge of the box after a clever flick from international team-mate Noonan.

As time wore on however, it became increasingly clear the Costa Ricans were happy to sit back and play for the draw ahead of the second leg back in Alejuela on March 8.

Often putting all but Ruiz behind the ball, the Costa Ricans defended very deep, relying instead on the occasional counter-attack to undermine the Rev?s onslaught.

But the New England side failed to take full advantage of the negative attitude, refusing to use all the width available on the sizeable pitch nor pressing hard enough to do any real damage.

With 11 minutes left on the clock, the Revolution?s chances of victory suffered a severe blow when Noonan limped off with an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced by Ryan Latham - Bermuda?s Khano Smith would normally have been the natural replacement had he not been injured .

La Liga?s decision to bring off Ruiz ? their most potent attacking force ? in the final few minutes perfectly summed up their attitude and their interest in actually trying to win the game.: M. Reis, C. Dempsey, D. Hernandez, J. Heaps, J. Franchino, P. Noonan (R. Latham, 81 mins), J. Riley, T. Lochhead, T. Twellman, S. Joseph, A. Dorman (J. Cancela, 75 mins) W. Alfaro, C. Castro, R. Fonseca (R. Myrie, 75 mins), C. Hernandez, W. Lopez (E. Martinez, 59 mins), L. Marin, C. Montero, C. Oviedo, M. Rodriguez, B, Ruiz (E. Scott, 86 mins), H. Wallace. C. Dempsey (Revs) R. Fonseca (LD)D. Hernandez, T. Twellman (Revs) C. Oviedo, B. Ruiz (LD) Hu Liu (Canada)