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 third edition of the SCL saw the introduction of a new format to the tournament, with 22 teams qualifying for the event and 12 of those entering into a first ever Preliminary Round.
Also, because of the new qualifying format for the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League, the top six finishers in the SCL all claimed berths in the 2020 SCCL, rather than just the SCL champion, as had been the case in the 2017 and 2018 editions.
For the second straight year, an amateur club qualified for the SCL via the SCL Playoff, as Robinhood of Suriname punched their ticket to the tournament after a 3-1 penalty shootout win over Haiti’s Real Hope following a 1-1 draw between the teams. Not only did Robinhood qualify for the SCL as an amateur club, but they advanced to the Round of 16 thanks to the away goal tiebreaker in an 1-1 aggregate draw with AS Capoise of Haiti.
The 2019 SCL also marked the first ever appearance from Canada’s new Canadian Premier League, with Forge FC reaching the Round of 16 by virtue of a 2-1 aggregate victory over Antigua GFC of Guatemala in the Preliminary Round.
The Preliminary Round was also the stage in which eventual winners Deportivo Saprissa started their march to the crown with a 6-2 win over Belize’s Belmopan Bandits in which 2019 SCL Best Young Player 17-year-old Manfred Ugalde scored three of the Saprissa goals in the series.
The journeys of Robinhood and Forge came to an end in the Round of 16, as did 2018 champion Herediano, who were eliminated 7-6 in a dramatic penalty shootout with Jamaican club Waterhouse following a 1-1 draw on aggregate.
The form of 2019 SCL Golden Boot and Golden Ball winner Johan Venegas kicked into gear in the quarterfinal stage with a four-goal effort in a 4-2 aggregate win over Panama’s Independiente in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, thanks to 2019 SCL Golden Glove winner Jonathan Rougier, 2018 SCL Finalist Motagua of Honduras methodically made their way back to the 2019 Final with impressive wins over Managua (3-2, R16), Waterhouse (2-0, QF) and Alianza (4-1, SF).
The semifinal between Saprissa and inaugural champions Olimpia of Honduras produced a Concacaf classic, as Saprissa rallied from a 3-1 deficit with three goals in the final 25 minutes of the second leg, including two scores in the final five minutes, to claim a dramatic and memorable 4-3 aggregate victory over the Catrachos.
The momentum from that scintillating semifinal carried Saprissa to a 1-0 win over Motagua in the first leg of the Final, with Venegas scoring his seventh and final goal of the 2019 SCL. From there, the Saprissa defense took over and locked down the Motagua attack for the remainder of the first leg and all of the second leg in Honduras to clinch the crown, 1-0.
