EFE
Antigua from Guatemala, led by Spanish coach Javier López, will host the Alajuelense Sports League from Costa Rica this Tuesday in search of advancing to the final of the Central American Cup of the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Football (Concacaf) .
Antigua reaches the semifinal of an international tournament for the first time after beating Costa Rican Saprissa in the quarterfinals, while the Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, current champion of the Central American Cup, left Guatemalan Comunicaciones on the road.
To get to the clash in the best way, Antigua canceled its match last weekend in the local tournament and will have its figure, the Argentine striker Santiago Gómez, for tomorrow.
The Argentine has scored four goals in the current international competition, including two in the 3-0 win that Antigua gave Saprissa away in the quarterfinals on October 2.
The club under the command of López will be home in the first leg of the semifinals of the competition, prior to the second leg scheduled for Wednesday, October 30 in Alajuela, where the Costa Rican team will be home for the second leg.
The match will be played at the Pensativo stadium in Antigua Guatemala, about 50 kilometers west of the country’s capital, and is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. local time (02:00 GMT Wednesday morning).
For its part, the Alajuelense Sports League, directed by Brazilian Costa Rican Alexandre Guimaraes, arrived in Guatemala on Sunday night and immediately moved to Antigua Guatemala.
“Now we are going to Guatemala to get a positive result and then come here,” Guimaraes said on Sunday in Costa Rica at a press conference, after his team’s draw (1-1) against Herediano in the local league.
In the other semifinal bracket, precisely Herediano and Real Estelí of Nicaragua will also play their first leg this week, to define the finalist of the competition next week in the second leg.
Antigua, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, Herediano and Real Estelí are already classified for the Concacaf Champions League that will take place in 2025. The other two tickets will be defined from the playoffs that will be played by Comunicaciones from Guatemala and Saprissa, in addition to Eagle of El Salvador and the Honduran Motagua.
2024-10-22 01:10:00