Late Goal Hands Lifeline to Costa Rica Soccer Team
Written by Thomas
First Leg of Face Off Between Saprissa and Pachuca Ends in a Tie.
The Pachuca soccer team will go back to Mexico as the firm favorites to win the CONCACAF tournament next week after an impressive display from the visiting side resulted in a 1-1 tie with Deportiva Saprissa at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, in Costa Rica, despite a last minute equalizer from Saprissa’s Cordero.
On a night when the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium was at full capacity and flowing with the vibrant purple colors of the home crowd, this was always going to be a hostile atmosphere for any visiting team to play in. This proved to be true in the opening 20 minutes of the first half as most of the play was limited to Pachuca’s own half, with the visitors unable to make any use of their lone forward in a defensive-looking 5-4-1 formation.
Despite Saprissa dominating possession, it was the visitors who threatened to break the deadlock first as a quick break after a loose pass by Alonso resulted in a Pachuca counter attack where Gabriel Caballero saw his shot comfortably saved by Navas.
A few minutes later Saprissa was back in charge and some good work from Borges, Alonso and Gomez resulted in a free kick for Saprissa just outside the box. Borges stepped up to take the set piece and almost made the most of the opportunity as his effort skimmed past the near post and out of play.
Moments later Borges was threatening the Pachuca goalmouth again as a well taken corner from Alonso found a leaping Borges who could only watch in agony as his header came back off the bar.
The second half started and the home fans got back behind their team eager to see them take advantage of the home tie however it wasn’t long before they were soon silenced. Pachuca came out of the starting blocks more aggressively than the first period and were duly rewarded when Damien Alvarez’s precise through ball split Saprissa’s defense open finding Luis Gabriel Rey who neatly chipped it over Navas to put the Mexicans one goal up.
Pachuca then started to sit back on a lead that they would be more than satisfied to take back to Mexico with them, however they continued to look threatening in patches and each time Saprissa pushed men forward looking for an equalizer, Pachuca counter-attacked.
As the clock counted down, Saprissa’s continued attempts to break the Pachuca back line were fading and the game was increasingly looking out of the Costa Rican’s reach. However Pachuca failed to effectively clear a corner in the 90th minute and Cordero fired home from 5 yards to keep Saprissa’s hopes alive of bringing the CONCACAF Champions Cup back to Costa Rica since 2005.
The next leg will be played at the Estadio Hildago, Mexico, in front of an expected sell out crowd of 33,000 fans. Will Pachuca retain their title or will Saprissa bring the trophy home after a 3 year absence?
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