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.