For the
third consecutive year, two teams from the same country will play for the
CONCACAF Champions Cup, but it is the first time with just Costa Rican clubs, as
Deportivo Saprissa and LD Alajuelense earned their berths to the 2004 Finale
after winning their respective semifinal series on Wednesday, 21 April.
Despite losing 2:1 to the host Chicago Fire (USA) in the second-leg on Wednesday evening, Deportivo Saprissa won the series 3:2 on aggregate.
Saprissa opened the scoring against the Fire with a goal by Alonso Solis in 11th minute of the second-leg at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois USA. Chicago scored the equalizer in the 55th minute of the second half with a goal by Andy Williams. Jim Curtin scored the game-winner for the Fire with four minutes remaining, but Saprissa won the series.
At the Estadio Tecnologico in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon Mexico, a crowd of 30,000 saw visiting LD Alajuelense hold CF Monterrey (MEX) to a 1:1 tie after two overtime periods in the second-leg encounter and claim the 2004 Champions Cup Semifinal Series 2:1 on aggregate.
After Sergio Pérez leveled the aggregate score for CF Monterrey with a goal in the 90th minute to force extra time, Michael Rodríguez scored with five minutes remaining in the second overtime period to give LD Alajuelense the series victory.
Two-time Champions Cup Winners (1993, 1995) Deportivo Saprissa will host the first-leg of the 2004 Final Series scheduled for 5 May, while LD Alajuelense, who hasn’t won the CONCACAF title since 1986, will stage the second-leg on 12 May.
The CONCACAF Champions Cup is the longest running international club competition in the region and has crowned the champion club of the Confederation since its inception in 1962.
2004 CONCACAF CHAMPIONS
CUP
Semifinals
SF1
21.04.2004: Chicago, Illinois USA;
Soldier Field (A: 7126)
CHICAGO FIRE (USA) – DEPORTIVO SAPRISSA (CRC) 2:1
(0:1)
Andy WILLIAMS 55’; Jim CURTIN 86’ – Alonso SOLIS 11’
Chicago
Fire: D.J. Countess – Kelly Gray, Jim Curtin, C.J. Brown, Leonard Griffin (45:
Nate Jaqua), Logan Pause, Justin Mapp, Andy Williams (90: Kelly Gray), DaMarcus
Beasley, Damani Ralph, Dipsy Selolwane (77: Sumed Ibrahim). Booked: Pause
43'
TD: Dennis HAMLET
Deportivo Saprissa: Francisco Porras – Andres Nuñez,
Reynaldo Perez, Daniel Torres, Ronald Gonzalez, Francisco Alfaro (68: Wilson
Muñoz), Try Bennett, Saul Phillip, Jose Lopez (61: Walter Centeno), Alonso
Solis, Esteban Santana. Booked: Gonzalez 32', Sent off: Gonzalez 90'
TD:
Hernan MEDFORD
R: Gilberto ALCALA (MEX)
Deportivo Saprissa wins 3:2 on
aggregate
FINAL
Home listed first
First-Leg: 5
May
Deportivo Saprissa (CRC) vs. LD Alajuelense (CRC)
Second-Leg: 12 May
LD Alajuelense (CRC) vs. Deportivo Saprissa
(CRC)