by Rod Hughes

It was Saprissa all the way last night in the semi-final of the CONCACAF regional tournament of soccer clubs. Playing on their own pitch in Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in Tibas, the big purple “S” hit the turf running at full throttle and did not let up until they had netted three goals. Since they had already suppressed the Dynamo attack, last week in Houston in a scoreless tie, only one further question remains to be answered: How are they going to do against Mexico’s Pachuca club in the finals.

The first half was all Saprissa. The side played close defense on the Dynamos, so that every time Houston passed, it was usually into a Saprissa opponent. They seemed unnerved by this. Some people just cannot seem to concentrate with someone looking over their shoulder. The Big Purple Monster, in contrast, made a series of attacks, although easy for Houston goalie Tony Caig to catch. He didn’t know they were just warming up until 34 minutes of play, most of it in the Dynamo half of the pitch, when Armando Alonso banged in a roller that Pat Lanni tried to block, too late, with his body.

Only three minutes into the second stanza, Celso Borges slammed another well-directed shot into the net, on Try Bennett’s feed in. It was not until about 15 minutes into the half, however, when it seemed to occur to the Dynamos that they had better get going if they were to make a showing at all. So they woke up, stretched, yawned and began attacking but in such a disordered way that only once was Saprissa goalie Keylor Navas forced to participate. And that was a magnificent circus stop, moving from his far right to a diving deflection on his far left.

But Saprissa was not through yet. Lightning fast Jairo Arrieta broke away from a desperate Caig who had come out from the goal to block the developing play and slammed in the third goal at minute 76. All in all, it was not poor Caig’s night. But, then, it was not Saprissa midfielder Walter Centeno’s, either. After coming in to replace Ronald Gomez and playing only 10 minutes, he had to be relieved when he aggravated an old knee injury. That is an ominous sign.

Meanwhile, Pachuca had won their first match with D.C. United 2-0 and, although they lost last night 2-1, still accumulated three goals against two to sneak into the finals. Pachuca, like Saprissa, is one of the old line, powerful clubs in its league. They will play Saprissa two final games, the first at Saprissa’s “cave” in Tibas. We imagine the Pachuco coach saying, “If we can just hold them in Tibas…”

Both clubs have their sights set on the World Tournament of Clubs in Japan.