by Rod Hughes

Saprissa fans don´t know whether to laugh or cry. After Wednesday’s smothering of Houston Dynamo in the CONCACAF tourney, 3-0, yesterday they dropped another Summer Tournament game in Costa Rica, 2-0, against Carmelita. The only assurance this gives fans is that they’ll be in the finals for national championship because of winning the first half of the 2007-8 season.

Still, it’s frustrating to see the club that had been running away with the national tourney with an 11-game winning streak drop their third match in a row. They are making a lot of lower echelon clubs look good. Sunday, Carmelita’s David Diach scored first on a pass by Kervin Lacey at minutes 65, followed by Olman Vargas’s goal, assisted by Lacey again five minutes later.

Saprissa coach Jeaustin Campos moved his veterans around like chess pieces in strange patterns and it will take a far more astute soccer fan than I to explain what he had in mind. For example, star Armando Alonso opened playing striker, then was shifted to forward and back to striker when the damage was done.

Puntarenas, Heredia in Exciting Scoreless Tie

It is a characteristic of soccer, unlike many sports, that a goal is not needed to provide plenty of thrills So it was Sunday with the port city Puntanreas and Heredia. Puntarenas appeared calm and ordered while Heredia, under brand new head coach Paulo Cesar Wanchope, is not quite ready to show the world what they can do. Still, no one went to sleep in Rosabal Cordero Stadium in Heredia.

Brujas 2, Santos 1

Brujas of Escazu edged ever closer to qualifying for the second round of the Summer Tournament with a 2-1 victory over Santos. The loss shoved the hapless Guapiles club ever closer to last place and oblivion in the Second Division. (Brujas was playing “at home” but are really nomadic, having no stadium of their own. This time they played in the southern suburb of Aserri.)

Unfortunately, the game was marred by players’ protests on referee calls and altercations among fans. It seems a rather strange thing, taking into account that the result was never much in doubt. Santos’s only attack worth mentioning, aside from Yeinor Santamaria’s free kick that scored at minute 47, was a blast from Marvin Chinchilla.

Daniel Jumenez tied it for Brujas and Sequiera booted in the winner.

Alajuela 1, Liberia 1

Liberia, despite being rather shaken at having to arrive at the Stadium in eight taxis (their bus broke down) managed to beat back Alajuela with a 1-1 tie. (Even warmup was complicated when the equipment managers left their balls in one of the taxi–and no comments on that, because they played well.)

Eliseo Quintanilla scored fior Alajuela at minute 37 and Jacques Remy tied it for Liberia with but three minutes over regular time left on the clock. The Guanacaste province club left a bit disgruntled because, mathematically, they could have qualified if they had won. That Liberia did not win was not the fault of forward William Sunsing who played brilliantly throughout the match. Alajuela, on the other hand, has already qulified for the finals.