MIAMI, Florida – This Friday at 7:00 PM ET, Concacaf will be airing a re-broadcast of the 2018 Scotiabank Concacaf League Final second leg between FC Motagua of Honduras and CS Herediano of Costa Rica, followed by the 2019 SCL Semifinal second leg between Deportivo Saprissa and CD Olimpia. Both matches will be shown on Concacaf’s Facebook and YouTube pages, plus the Concacaf App.
The history of the SCL dates back to 2017 in which 16 teams from around Central America and the Caribbean battled to lift the inaugural trophy and secure a place in the 2018 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League.
While most of the results in the Round of 16 were fairly decisive, the series between Aguila of El Salvador and Nicaragua’s Real Esteli provided plenty of drama, with each side winning their respective home leg with a goal in the final five minutes of play.
In the end, Aguila would advance via a penalty shootout, 4-3, but it gave a glimpse of some of the drama to come in the tournament.
The quarterfinals yielded one of the most scintillating series in recent Concacaf history between Olimpia of Honduras and El Salvador’s Alianza. The Cuscatleco club brought a 1-0 lead on aggregate into the second leg in Honduras, but that was quickly cancelled out by one of the five goals scored by Golden Boot winner Roger Rojas.
Nevertheless, a goal right before halftime had Alianza poised to advance, only to see legendary FW Carlo Costly come up with a goal in the 55’ and then again in the final seconds in the 90+2’ to earn Olimpia a 3-2 victory and a place in the semifinals.
Rojas would really flex his scoring muscles with a three-goal performance over two legs in Olimpia’s 8-2 aggregate win over Plaza Amador of Panama in the semifinals. Meanwhile, in the other semifinal, the star was once again Santos de Guapiles GK and Golden Glove winner Bryan Morales, who registered his fourth consecutive shutout on their way to a 1-0 aggregate win over Panama’s Arabe Unido.
Rojas and Costly looked to break through against Morales in the Final first leg in Honduras, but they could not crack the code and a Wilmer Azofeifa strike in the 62’ earned Santos de Guapiles a 1-0 away win in the first leg.
Olimpia would bounce back nicely though in the second leg in Costa Rica, as Golden Ball winner Michael Chirinos came through in the clutch by firing in a right-footed shot in the 21’ to pull the Catrachos level 1-1.
Matters had to be settled in a penalty shootout and Olimpia GK Donis Escober would come up big in making a save to pave the way for Olimpia’s 4-1 penalty shootout win to become the first ever SCL champion.