Deportivo Saprissa
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| Deportivo Saprissa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Club Deportivo Saprissa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | El Monstruo Morado, Los Morados | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | July 16, 1935 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Estadio Ricardo Saprissa (La Cueva), San José, Costa Rica (Capacity 23,112) |
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| Chairman |  Jorge Vergara |
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| Head Coach |  Jeaustin Campos |
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| League | Costa Rican Primera División | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verano 2008 | 1st | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Deportivo Saprissa, known also as simply Saprissa, is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is located in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and plays home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa (La Cueva). The club's success has led to the Costa Rican press nicknaming the team El Monstruo Morado ("The Purple Monster"), a reference to their purple-coloured playing kit.
Saprissa is one of the most successful clubs in North America having won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup three times - in 1993, 1995, and 2005. They have also won five Central American crowns in 1972, 1973, 1978, 1998, and 2003 as well as 27 Primera División de Costa Rica championships (the most of any team in Costa Rica). The club is currently the 92nd best team in the world according to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.[citation needed] Arguably their most notable moment came in 2005 as they became the first, and so far only, non-Mexican club in CONCACAF to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup, finishing in third place.
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[edit] History
[edit] Foundation and the Amateur Era (1935-1948)
Deportivo Saprissa was founded in July 16, 1935 by Roberto “Beto” Fernández in his shoe store in el barrio Los Ángeles in downtown San José. After a meeting with the football club's members Beto Fernandez decided to name his team after the man who sponsored their uniform, Don Ricardo Saprissa and with this announcement they entered the Costa Rican Third Division as Saprissa F.C.
In 1947 with Ricardo Saprissa's financial support and excellent coaching by Francisco "Pachico" García, los morados were able to win the Costa Rican Third Division Championship. In 1948 they ascended to Costa Rica's Second Division and won the championship, a success that propelled them to Costa Rica's premier soccer division. Deportivo Saprissa made its Costa Rican Premier Division debut on August 21, 1949 and has since remained at this level for almost 60 years.
[edit] Professional Era (1948-present)
In March, 1959, Deportivo Saprissa achieved recognition as being the first Latin American soccer team to travel around the world. They played 25 games in 22 nations, in which they won 14 games, tied one, and lost 7. In Costa Rica, they were named the "Team of the Century" as they had participated in 50 Costa Rican Championships. They also have the immense prestige of winning six consecutive Costa Rican National Championships between 1972 and 1977, a record that stands not only in Costa Rica, but across the entire American continent as well,since this record has not been repeated by any other soccer team in the Americas.
During the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, Saprissa was the backbone of the Costa Rican national team, whose international pinnacle came at the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy, when against all odds, Costa Rica reached the second round, eliminating countries such as Scotland and Sweden.
In 2003, the team was purchased by Mexican entrepreneur Jorge Vergara, who was also the owner of Mexican soccer club Chivas de Guadalajara and soon after the operator of Major League Soccer club C.D. Chivas USA. In 2005, Deportivo Saprissa beat UNAM Pumas (Mexico) to become CONCACAF Club Champions, thus earning themselves a berth at the FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup, where Saprissa finished third behind São Paulo Futebol Clube and Liverpool F.C..
Having defeated Sydney F.C. thanks to a goal by Cristian Bolaños, they were beaten by Liverpool F.C. 3-0 in the semifinals. They then played against Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in the game that decided the third and fourth places of the cup. Saprissa won the game with a final score of 3-2. The electrifying match was held at the Yokohama Stadium, where Álvaro Saborío scored two goals, and Rónald Gómez scored the final goal just minutes before the game ended. Gomez's goal was considered among the best of the tournament, Saborío ended up tied as the top scorer of the cup, and Cristian Bolaños was ranked the third best player of the championship by FIFA.
[edit] Team colors and mascot
In 1937, Deportivo Saprissa adopted purple as the official colour of the team. It is said that the team adopted purple because their previous uniform, which consisted of a red shirt and blue shorts, were washed together by mistake. When the uniforms were ready to be picked up, it was realized that the two colours blended on the uniform, forming a solid purple colour.
The history of the nickname El Monstruo Morado ("The Purple Monsters") can be traced back to 1987, when the Costa Rican newspaper El Diario Extra gave the team this nickname during the local derby between Deportivo Saprissa and La Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. Apparently, a reporter had commented that the sea of fans in the grandstands at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in Tibas wearing purple and the tremendous noise they were generating made him feel like he was in the presence of a purple monster. Deportivo Saprissa immediately adopted the moniker of El Monstruo Morado. Official site: [1]
[edit] Stadium
In 1955 Ricardo Saprissa embarked on a long search for a training site. Not only did he want this to be a training site but he wanted it to be a possible location for a permanent stadium that Deportivo Saprissa could call their own. Ricardo Saprissa had criteria for the location of the stadium, he wanted easy transportation access to the location and he also wanted it to be near the capital city of San Jose, but also at the same time he wanted to be close enough for the other provincial cities such as Alajuela, Cartago, and Heredia. On August 3rd, 1965 after 10 years of searching Ricardo Saprissa came to a final solution and agreed to buy land in San Juan de Tibas but construction would not begin until October 12, 1966. The location would be first built into a soccer field with bleachers and technically it would not be considered a stadium. But on August 27, 1972 after 6 years of construction and upgrades Estadio Ricardo Saprissa was inaugurated with a match between Deportivo Saprissa and Comunicaciones of Guatemala, the match ended in a 1 - 1 draw.
In 2003 due to the long tropical rainy seasons Deportivo Saprissa applied and was granted by FIFA the right to change the field from natural grass to synthetic turf, becoming the only stadium in Latin America to display this type of turf. Estadio Ricardo Saprissa has also gained the national distinction of being the home field of Costa Rica's national matches. Estadio Ricardo Saprissa is the second biggest soccer stadium (after the National Stadium) in Costa Rica with a seating capacity of 23,112 and has an excellent view of the local mountains and downtown San Jose.
[edit] Fans
La Ultra Morada ("The Purple Ultra") is Deportivo Saprissa's official firm. The group was the first of its kind in Costa Rica, formed in 1995 when the then Deportivo Saprissa president Enrique Artiñano brought to Costa Rica, fans from the Chilean league team Universidad Católica, known as "Los Cruzados" to help build a similar firm for Saprissa. In the mid to late 1990s the Ultra began to develop the image of being a hooligan-type fan club when violence began to break out with other fans during games. Due to the negative atmosphere and press Deportivo Saprissa stepped in to restore order to a phenomenon they helped create. Recently the Ultra Morada has been taken under the wing of Deportivo Saprissa in order to fix its image, making it a more stable but devoted fan base. This project is still going on as its fame of being a hooligan-type fan club has made a lot of hooligans join. Its rivalry with "La 12" or The Twelve (Liga Deportiva Alajuelense's fan firm)has been the cause of many violent clashes in and out of soccer stadiums.
- Official Ultra morada website:
[edit] Tournament Championships
[edit] International
Deportivo Saprissa has won 3 official international tournaments and an overall 10 international championships.
- Third place (1): 2005 FIFA Club World Championship
- Runners-up(1): 1993, 1995
CONCACAF Central American Champions
- Winners(1): 1970
Copa Ricard
- Runners-up (1): 2008
US Camel Cup
- Winners (1): 1995
[edit] National
Deportivo Saprissa has won a record 27 national titles and 8 short championships.
Primera División de Costa Rica
- Winners (27): 1952-53, 1953-54, 1957-58, 1962-63, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1982-83, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 Apertura, 2007-08 Clausura
Costa Rican Short Championships
- Winners (8): 1997-98 Clausura, 1998-99 Apertura, 1998-99 Clausura, 2003-04 Apertura, 2005-06 Apertura, 2005-06 Clausura, 2006-07 Apertura, 2006-07 Clausura
[edit] Records
- Saprissa, along with Club Necaxa, has the best finish out of any CONCACAF team in the FIFA Club World Cup by finishing third.
- Saprissa has the most final appearances in the CONCACAF Champions Cup with 3 first place finishes and 4 runners-up finishes. Saprissa also, along with arch-rivals LD Alajuelense, have the most semifinal appearances, or top 4 finishes, with 15.
- Saprissa has the national record of having won 6 consecutive national titles from 1972 to 1977. This record also extends to the entire American continent.
- Saprissa has the national record of most national titles won with 27.
- Saprissa has had an 19 game unbeaten streak against arch-rivals LD Alajuelense which is still in progress.
[edit] Institutional
[edit] Current Administrative Staff
General Manager
Mario Sánchez de Cima
Football Operations Manager
.svg/20px-Flag_of_Costa_Rica_(state).svg.png)
Victor Badilla
Commercial Manager
- Mario Jiménez
[edit] Current Coaching Staff
Head Coach
Assistant Coaches
Head Athletic Trainer
- Pier Luigi Morera
Goalkeeper's Coach
- Roger Mora
Team Physician
- Willy Gálvez
[edit] Current squad
As of 2008[1]
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[edit] Squad changes during the 2007-08 season
In:
- Armando Alonso - Loan Return from C.S. Cartaginés
- Ronald Gomez - Signed from
APOEL FC - Michael Barrantes - Signed from Puntarenas FC
Out (Contracts Not Renewed):
- Christian Bolaños - Signed for
Odense Boldklub - Allan Alemán - Signed for Municipal Liberia
- José Pablo Fonseca - Signed for UCR
- Saúl Phillips - Signed for Brujas F.C.
- Reynaldo Parks - Signed for UCR
- Edgar Greaves - Signed for Puntarenas F.C.
Loaned:
- Alonso Solís - Loaned to Necaxa
[edit] Squad changes prior to the 2008-09 season
'Out:
- José Luis López Ramírez - Signed for
Melbourne Victory
[edit] Notable people
[edit] Notable players
Note: The Players marked '(c)' have also coached the team
[edit] 1950s
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[edit] 1960s
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[edit] 1970s
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[edit] Notable Coaches
[edit] 1950s - 1960s
[edit] 1970s
[edit] 1980s
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[edit] 1990s
[edit] 2000s to date
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[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official Web Site (English) (Japanese) (Spanish)
- Deportivo Saprissa Forum (Spanish)
- Unofficial site (Spanish)
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