SAN JOSE – Costa Rican club Herediano will be looking to join in on the 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League festivities when they host Real Espana of Honduras in the second leg of the 2022 Scotiabank Concacaf League quarterfinals on Thursday night at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Real Espana qualified for the 2023 SCCL after winning last week’s first leg 3-1, which gave the Catracho club nine points through the Round of 16 and quarterfinal first leg, ensuring a top six finish in the tournament.
Now it is up to Herediano to try to answer with a win to at least give themselves a shot of qualifying for the SCCL as a top six finisher, if not win decidedly and advance to the semifinals.
A 2-0 victory would do it, but stopping Real Espana will be difficult, considering Head Coach Hector Vargas has compiled four straight SCL wins, becoming just the third manager to accomplish that feat.
Real Espana will also be able to lean on the tournament’s top scorer in Ramiro Rocca, who has four goals thus far. Others to watch will be Jhow Benavidez, who delivered an assist in the first leg and completed 57 passes, and Yeison Mejia, a player who came off the bench and promptly swung the first leg in his side’s favor with a goal and an assist.
2018 SCL champions Herediano are keen to make a return to the Final and they will require some top performances from their star players to shift the aggregate in their favor.
Keysher Fuller scored his side’s lone goal last week and was assisted by Orlando Galo. Fans will be looking for those two to possibly hook up again for another score, while Rawy Rodriguez’s blue-collar work on the field, where he had four ball recoveries last week, should provide security in the back for the hosts.
Match Officials CS Herediano vs Real Espana
Referee: Armando Villarreal (USA)
AR1: Corey Rockwell (USA) AR2: Cameron Blanchard (USA)
4th Official: Nima Saghafi (USA)
Stats, Game Notes CS Herediano vs Real Espana