by Rod Hughes
Seven Costa Rican soccer stars will play with clubs in the Champions’ League (European soocer federation), a tournament the daily La Nacion calls “the most relevant tourney of clubs in the world.”
Injury-plagued Gilberto (Tuma) Martínez, recuperating from a persistent knee injury, hopes to be recovered enough to play with his AS Roma team in the competition. The defender missed the last Champions’ League with the injury but was able at least to accompany his team to the quarter finals last April 11–in time to see Manchester administer a horrible 7-1 beating. But AC Roma is back, having finished second in Italy’s Serie A. June 9 will be the year’s anniversary since he last played but he hopes to be on the pitch in September.
Then there is Winston Parks whose Czech Republic team Slovan Liberec finished second. But second was enough to get into the tourney.
The seven stars in champions’ League include a woman, Shirley Cruz, to play with Olympique of Lyon in the women’s version of the tourney.
Ronald (La Bala) Gómez would have been playing with his European team, Apoel of Nicosa, Cyprus, but he opted to return to Costa Rica to play with Puntarenas.
Avaro Saborío will be with Switzerlands FC Sion, Luis antonio Marín with Isreal’s Maccabi Netamya, Bryan Ruíz and Randall Azofeifa with Belgium’s K.A.A. Gent.
During the season Saborío accounted for 14 goals, topping is own team and placing second in the Swiss league in goals.
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LATEST NEWS BULLETIN:
The National Champion Saprissa soccer club has just sold star striker Alvaro Saborío to Sion of Switzerland for $1 million!
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But not all the Ticos in Europe will have a chance to play in the tourney. In Austria, Pablo Chinchilla and Froylan Ledezma had the bitter experience of playing with a team, Altach, that ended up in eighth place. Chinchilla began playing regularly later in the season and was instrumental in keeping his team from sliding into the Second Division. He will stay with Altach next season while Ledezma will go with Augsburg in Germany’s Second Division.