Joel Campbell will shine for Arsenal next season says Costa pal Ruiz

Fulham's Costa Rica striker Bryan Ruiz believes international colleague Joel Campbell will prove himself to be yet another fox in the box for Arsenal next season.

While Robin van Persie is banging them in for the Gunners this year, Campbell is adapting to life in European football as part of a loan spell at French club Lorient.

Campbell showed his education is coming along nicely with his second goal in successive appearances for Costa Rica to earn rave reviews from his team-mates this week.

The strike, against Wales, had come three months after Campbell hit a
wonder-goal against world and European champions Spain in a 2-2 draw.

Ruiz, who set up Campbell's goal on Wednesday night, said: "You will see that he will get a chance in the next pre-season. So it is up to him.

"Joel is an exciting player. But in Arsenal they are very smart. They have
placed him in a team to teach him, as he is young, so he does not have to go too fast.

"In Costa Rica we don't have many players playing here in the best leagues so he has to adapt to those things.

"He is a very good player, you can see that, and it is because of that Arsenal got him.

"You can see the way that he moves, he has qualities, and he played in the Costa Rica youth team. Arsenal know that and he will get his chance."

Ruiz, who cost Fulham £10million, is himself adapting to life in
the Premier League with Fulham. He believes Arsenal fans should be excited about the prospect heading their way next season after a season adapting to European football.

The last player to join the Gunners from French club Lorient was defender Laurent Koscielny who has become a mainstay in the Arsenal backline.

Ruiz added: "I am not surprised that he was signed there as he is a very
good player.

"He needs time to adapt. He did very good against Wales, everyone can see that. He will get his chance but he needs time."

Ruiz revealed the Costa Rica were well aware of the sensitivities surrounding the Gary Speed memorial game but maintained his side were keen to put on a display to boost morale ahead of their own World Cup qualifying campaign.

He said: "Of course I understood the occasion. In England everyone has been talking about [Speed] when he died, and I was the same.

"So we understood it was an emotional match for everyone here. But also the Wales players wanted to win. So did we.

"The Costa Rica players asked me before about the game and about Speed. Not everyone in Costa Rica knew about these things and I was able to explain what had happened and the situation.

"We start our World cup campaign in a couple of months so the match was important for us to prepare.

"We needed this game, we played against a young team, and we got the
result. We knew that it was emotional match for Wales but we had things to think about.

"We needed to win. But we also knew that we needed to respect the match, respect the occasion."