by Rod Hughes

Alajuela showed its old form finally this season, confronting Heredia with its old brand of wonderful soccer, crisp attacks, well planned approaches and all the trimmings. And they came away Wednesday night with no points earned, thanks to Heredia goalie Ricardo González.

González may as well have built a brick wall in front of the goal mouth. What incoming missiles he didn’t catch, he batted away. As for his Heredia teammates, let us be charitable here. They were as poorly distributed on the pitch as chessmen after the board has been carelessly bumped. Worse, they seemed to be passing in slow motion, allowing Alajuela’s defense time to plot azimuth and trajectory on a pocket calculator.

If anything, Wednesday night showed that you can’t judge a side by its uniform. With its red and yellow striped jerseys, Heredia has always seemed to this reporter to look like some kind of vicious wasps. But they may be butterflies after all…

by Rod Hughes

As La Nacion sportwriter Arnoldo Rivera described it, both Alajuela and Puntarenas rushed out on the pitch at Puntarenas’s Lito Perez stadium with far more spirit than science, both breathing fire. It was a see-saw battle for a 2-2 result. At least no spectator dozed off lest he miss part of the action.

Arthin Rooper opened scoring for Puntarenas at minute 18 on a pass from veteran Andy Herron. it was not before a few minutes before the half was over that Ignacio Aguilar tied it when Ignacio Quintanilla centered the ball. In the second half, Aguilar took Cristian Montero’s pass for his second goal of the day to put Alajuela ahead 2-1 At minute 59, Dario Delgado tied it with an assist from Dave Myrie. Then the game settled down to a battle of battering ram attacks on the defenses of both teams.

As the sportwriter put it, both Alajuela’s midfielder Quintanilla (despite his assist) and Puntarena´s Josimar Arias failed to set up their team´s attacks so more movement than plan prevented either team from dominating.

Carmelita, Liberia Tie 3-3

Much the same situation prevailed at Carlos Alavardo Stadium where an error by Felix Garcia resulted in a self-inflicted goal by Liberia at minute 18. It seemed that Carmelita might run away with the match when O. Gonzalez made it 2′0 at minute 27. Then William Sunsing made two goals for Luberia in nine minutes to close the half.

Santana put Carmelita up again in the second half but Liberia´s Gamboa tied it.While Liberia is tied for second place in Group B, carmelita has been plague with a lack of pooints putting the club at the bottom of Goup A, so even one point for the tie is appreciated.

Perez Zeledon 1, Cartago 0

The southern zone club has been surprisingly strong this year, leading Group B with 12 points, although Alajuela and Liberia are breathing down their necks with 11. But Sunday´s match showed why Perez Zeledon is such a power—they know how to win the close ones.

Wilmer Lopez did not enter the match until early in the second half but he made the winning goal, telling the newspaper Al Dia he made it to celebrate his newly-arrived baby..Hapless Cartago, right down there with University of Costa Rica in the standings, on the road that leads straight to the Secon Division, did not celebrate.

Standings as of Today

Saprissa is running away with the Frist Division with five wins, one tie and 16 points in Group A with Heredia and San Carlos way back with 11 points and Puntarenas, UCR and Carmelita trailing in that order, the latter with only a solitary point

Things are a bit more balanced in Group B with Perez Zeledon leading with 12, followed one point back by Alajuela and Libera and Brujas within whispering distance with 10. Santos and Cartago follow.

Saturday: Saprissa 2, Santos 1

If Santos had not slept so soundly in the first half, they might have frightened the rabid purple clad fans at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium. But they allowed Armando Alonso to score after only 15 minutes of play. In the second half, Cristian Carrilllo tied it up and Saprissa knew it was in a match. But Alejando Alpizar, Saprissa’s big gun this year with five big ones already, blasted in the winning goal.

Brujas Blank San Carlos, 2-0

Brujas, a club from Escazu that plays its games in Desamparados because its home town has no stadium (real estate is a bit too steep there to build one) showed that homelessness is not necessarily a curse. On the other hand, Saturday.s match showed it may make them a little rough, as is shown by the fact that they ended up two men short because of expulsions, Kraesher Mook and Daniel Jimenez.

Despite a numerical advantage, San Carlos was unable to stem the tide. First came a penalty goal by Alejandro Sequiera and Berny Wright put the finishing touches on the victory in the second half. (We’ll see how Brujas fares, playing the next game without two starting players. Gentlemen, control yourselves!)

by Rod Hughes

It is not unusual to see women climb to high places in Costa Rica—leader of a party delegation in the Legislative Assembly or the Vice Presidency, for example—but until now no Tica has aspired to climb quite so high as Gineth Soto. In fact, Soto plans to go all the way to the top—more than 26,000 feet—to the top of Mount Everest.

The young Costa Rican lass who lives in Redding, in northern California, plans to begin her climb April 13, reach the top in late April and finish the descent to base camp June 9. Although the country has had mountain climbers—one was set to climb Mt. St. Helens in southern Washington state in 1982 when the dormant volcano beat him to it by blowing its top in a devastating eruption—none has ever made the summit of Everest.

This 34-year-old married lady has climbed five of the tallest peaks in the world: Kosciuszko in Australia, Elbrus in Russia, Kilimanjaro in Tanzaria, McKinley in Alaska and Aconcagua in Argentina. But they all shrink in comparison to Everest where bottled oxygen is absolutely essential for most to the ascent (above about 12,000 feet) and temperatures are below freezing even in summer.

In 1997, two Costa Ricans, Eduardo Villalobos and Ronny Chaves, got above 18,000 feet on Everest’s flanks before storms drove them back to base camp. Of Central Americans, only Jaime Vinols of Guatemala has managed to reach the summit.

by Rod Hughes

It was civic fiesta time in the Pacific port city of Puntarenas as they hosted Heredia’s soccer team yesterday, and they had all the bells an whistles— sporting new uniforms, a new name (Puntarenas Futbol Club) and a new logo, a shark. Then Heredia de-finned the club, 2-0, on goals by forward Jonathan McDonald.

For the first 25 minutes, it looked as if all this change might work, a sort of move much like the old Tico superstitition about fooling the evil spirits by wearing your clothing inside out. The club that has fared badly of late came out breathing fire and prancing around in the area of the Heredia goal. In fact, had it not been for Heredia goalie Ricardo Gonzalez, they might have been one goal up. Then the rot set in, as if they suddenly realized, “Oh heck! It’s just us, after all.”

Saprissa Takes Over First Division
Saprissa took over leadership of the whole First Division, the top soccer league, by bouncing a hapless Cartago 3-1. During the scoreless first half, the game appeared fairly even and it was not until shortly into the second that Alejandro Alpizar sent a penalty shot past Cartago goalie Jean Carlos Chacon. He was to grow accustomed to the feeling of watching Saprissa’s shots whizzing past.

Alpizar fooled him again with a fine personal play at minute 69 but Minor Diaz netted a penalty goal as Cartago battled back.’Twas all for naught. Armando Alonso took a pass from Alpizar to salt down Saprissa’s win and that was that.

Santos Back in Win Column

Santos of Guapiles, which has not won a match since their opener in the second half of the season, bounced back with a win over University of Costa Rica, a club sliding down the slippery slope into the Second Division. The score, 3-0, showed how bad UCR is.

Brazilian Eneas Conceicao brought in two for the Santos side, sandwiching Mario Arias’s goal. We’ll see if that gives the Guapiles boys the momentum to do the same job on tougher competition.

Perez Zeledon 1, Carmelita, 0

Perez Zeledon won a hotly contested and equal match with Carmelita on a disputed goal by Jewisson Bennett at minute 75 from a well-judged pass from Wilmer Lopez. Claiming offside in a frustrated fury, Carmelita’s coach Mauricio Montero was booted from the field by referee Luis Rodriguez. But the damage was done and the team from the southern zone held Carmelita for the rest of the match.

Saturday: Alajuela 3, Brujas 1

Alajuela had a fairly easy time over Las Brujas of Escazu Saturday. The first half an hour, fans settled down to watch an even match but Brujas seemed to collapse after suffering the first goal aganst them, a blast from Winston Parks with an assist from Eliseo Quintanilla. It was Quinanill’s turn at minute 63 on a penalty kick and six minutes later Pablo Herrera put even a tie out of reach. In injury overtime, Daniel Jimenez of the Brujas made a final effort for the only Escazu goal.

Saturday: San Carlos 1, Liberia 0

San Carlos hiked itself up the ladder to Group A’s number one with a victory over host Liberia. The winning goal came in the first 12 minutes with Victor Abelenda’s penalty kick. The game was marred by a blizzard of red cards: Abelenda, Juan Carlos Arguedas for San Carlos and Willy Eras for Liberia.

by Rod Hughes

In a confused battle of goals that often alternated long minutes of formless tedium with furious seconds of formless frantic action, Saprissa dumped Carmelita, 4-3 Sunday in the soccer wars. Carmelita appear somewhat improved but continued its long journey into the depths of the First Division with yet another defeat.

What at times appeared to resemble more a dogfight than a soccer match ended dramatically when rookie Esteban Ramiriz blasted in the tie breaker for Saprissa just ahead of the game-ending whistle. Scoring began at minute 22 with Saprissa’s Armando Alonso feeding in a centering shot from Alejandro Alpizar. But two minutes later Carmelita’s Alejandro Gonzalez sent a penalty kick into the back netting.

This set the form of the game. Ronald Gomez put Saprissa up with a free kick to end the second half but early in the second Vargas made it 2-2. Saprissa’s Alonso was back again with 3-2 and then Carmelita’s Vargas replied. It was up to the young substitute Ramirez to salt down the win for Saprissa. Not a lot of brilliant play here but no spectator slept for long.

by Rod Hughes

Costa Rica’s All-Star soccer team managed to set a record for itself yesterday in Kingston, Jamaica: 10 matches without a win. They managed this dubious feat with a 1-1 tie with their Jamaican counterparts. The natives around Ticolandia are restless.

At minute 78 in yesterday’s match, it appeared that the blue, white and red were about to break their negative streak when Victor “el Mambo” Núñez broke the scoreless tie on a pass from midfielder Andrés Gómez. This was after a rocky first half in which Jamaica’s Denmark Phillips had rebounded a spectacular shot off the goal frame, and after the home side’s numerous assaults demonstrating a singular lack of marksmanship.

But the Tico ascendency only lasted into the first minute of injury overtime when Tyrone Marchall took Marlon King’s centering of the ball, literally using his head, andguiding it past Costa Rican goalie Ricardo González for the tying effort. Bye-bye Tico victory.

by Rod Hughes

Saprissa fans may have worried that their team was exhausted after playing a soccer tournament last week in Uruguay, but they need not have bothered their little heads over it. Sunday, the Tibas side needed only a half an hour to ICE down a resounding 2-0 victory over Heredia. In fact, it appeared that the maroon-clad warriors of Saprissa only let Heredia control the ball for brief periods out of a feeling for showmanship. You know, to keep the fans aware that there were two sides on the field.

Both goals developed in the same way, a long service from midfield to a striker waiting alone near the goal. The first was from Michael Barrantes to Alejandro Alpizar, the second from Celso Borges to Alpizar. It took all too long for Heredia to figure out the strategy and then they found out that they could not break the Saprissa defense.

Liberia 2, Puntarenas 1

Liberia flaunted history Sunday and defeated Puntarenas for the first time in the port city’s Lito Perez Stadium. Why Puntarenas should be so tough for them on its own home pitch is hard to imagine, but this time the Guanacaste province’s club looked as if they had been doing it for years.

Puntarenas’s Athin Roper opened scoring (minute 18) on a penalty kick but from then on the port city could scarcely get a whiff of the goal. With a little over half an hour of play, Liberia forward Allan Aleman followed up on Puntarenas goalie Daniel Cambronero’s rejection of a shot on the goal. Then Max Sanchez hammered on in at minute 47 and history was writ.

Alajuela 2, San Carlos 0

Harold Wallace, returning to his Alajuela club after a long absence due to an injury, could not have celebrated better Sunday, making the first goal early in the second half of what was to prove a 2-0 win over San Carlos. Winston Parks, another red and black mainstay, made another with only two minutes of regular time left on the clock.

Wallace at first seemed hesitant, perhaps unsure that his aim had not lost its precision during his recuperation, passing up opportunities during the first half. But the whole side received praise for “playing with their heads” after a slow start in the “closing tournament” of the season.

Perez Zeledon 1, Universidad 1

For the second match in a row, Jewisson Bennett prevented Perez Zeledon from defeat, which would have been hard on morale for their fans on their own pitch at San Isidro de El General. Doubly damaging would have been a defeat against the University of Costa Rica, a club that is currently fighting going down into the second division at the end of the season, dead last, one point behind Cartago in the standings.

In fact, it appeared at the 30 minute mark that Universidad might be pulling out a desperately-needed win when Esteban Maitland hammered in the sphere from a pass by Lucas Carrera. It was not until minute 47 that Bennett saved Perez Zeledon from shame.

by Rod Hughes

The Costa Rican soccer All-Stars go up against Jamaica tomorrow in Kingston’s National Stadium and coach Hernan Medford is looking for the first victory to end a dismal streak that began June 17 of last year without a victory–nine matches. Although it is an exhibition game, fans will scrutinizing their play, seeking some sign that they may make it to the next World Cup.

The natives are restless. The newspaper Al Dia conducted a poll of 220 fans, the results of which were printed yesterday. The vast majority of fans, 174, categorized the All-Stars as “very bad.” When sportswriters conduct surveys, it is a bad sign, Either they lack stuff to fill their columns or they want the fans to say what they haven’t the heart to write. This is clearly the latter.

Almost as a footnote last week, the “Sele,” as the picked team of national soccer heros is known, journeyed all the way to Teheran, where they battled their opponents to a scoreless tie. Then, they lost the shootout of penalty goals, 4-3. That did not sit at all well with Al Dia sportwriter Ericka Rojas who criticized their lack of maneavering close to the goal. She seemed to feel that Costa Rica’s soccer team deserves their FIFA ranking of a dismal 69th in the world.

Sooo…We will see tomorrow how they do against the “Reggae Boyz” in Jamaica. The Caribbean islands traditionally do not do well in the regional Concacaf runups to the World Cup, fielding blazingly fast teams that often seem unable to aim their goal kicks. But this is an exhibition game and Medford is still experimenting like an alchemist, thrying to turn lead into gold.

by Rod Hughes

Costa Rica’s national champion club, Saprissa, went all the way to the finals of Uruguay’s Copa Ricard soccer tourney but could not must quite enough force to win against Nacional of that country. The sides played to a scoreless tie, then began the shootout with penalty kicks. The Tibas team’s hopes crashed when Saprissa idol Ronald Gomez’s kick slammed into the post instead of the back netting.

Try Bennett also missed his goal shot. Soooo…the final score was Nacional 4, Saprissa 3.

Nacional goalie Alexis Viera distinguished himself with superb stops of direct goal shots by Gomez, Armando Alonso and Pablo Brenes during the match.

by Rod Hughes

Tehran was frigid, just above freezing and it seemed to affect both sides in the exhibition match with Iran, resulting in a scoreless tie. Nonetheless, Costa Rica’s head coach Hernan Medford was satisfied. “”(Costa Rica” stacked up very well against a very good team…All my players did well, even the substitutes.” The game was played early Wednesday morning, Costa Rica time.

But the era of Medford is not exactly a sterling one. This is the ninth match without a victory, the worst record for the “La Sele,” as the All-Star team is called, since 1980. Their opponents had called some players back from clubs in Germany to play. They played a fast, explosive match contrasted with Costa Rica, which was able to muster only one soft direct goal shot and three that went astray. But the Tico defense held the line.