Deportivo Saprissa

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Deportivo Saprissa
Full name Club Deportivo Saprissa
Nickname(s) El Monstruo Morado
Founded July 16, 1935
Ground Estadio Ricardo Saprissa,
San José
(Capacity 23,112)
Chairman Jorge Vergara
Manager Jeaustin Campos
League Primera División, Costa Rica
Clausura 2007 1st (Playoff Champions)
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
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Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
　
Away colours

Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican football club, currently playing in the Costa Rican Primera División. It holds the record of most international titles by a Costa Rican soccer squad and its 25 national championships is the most won by any domestic club. The team is most notable for its policy of only fielding Costa Rican players since Jorge Vergara acquired the team in 2003, thus establishing the same policy as that of Club Deportivo Guadalajara, a Mexican football team he also owns. The club's on-field successes have led to the Costa Rican press nicknaming the team El Monstruo Morado ("The Purple Monsters"), a reference to their purple-coloured playing kit. In December 2005, they played in the FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup, representing the CONCACAF region as the current champions. They finished in third place.

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Deportivo Saprissa was founded July 16, 1935 by Roberto “Beto” Fernández in his shoe store in el barrio Los Angeles in San Jose. 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.

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.

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 consists 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 colors blended on the uniform, forming a solid purple colour.

During the end of the 1980's and beginning of the 1990's, 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 2002, the team was purchased by Mexican entrepreneur Jorge Vergara, who was also the owner of Mexican soccer club Chivas de Guadalajara and the operator of Major League Soccer club C.D. Chivas USA. In 2005, Deportivo Saprissa beat Pumas de UNAM (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 Ronald Gomez 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.

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]

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 likeminded 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.

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 October 29, 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.

As of May 13, 2007, Saprissa reached its 25th national championship becoming the team with the most titles breaking a tie with Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, team against which it played the 'Clausura' Championship final (since Saprissa had won the 'Apertura' Championship it automatically became the 2006-07 champion).

As of October 28, 2006, the Costa Rican Football Federation, or Federación Costarricense de Fútbol, has announced that the new coaching staff for the Costa Rica national football team is Saprissa's head coach, Hernan Medford, his assistant Oscar Ramírez, and his head athletic trainer Marcelo Tulbovitz.

Note: The Players marked '(c)' have also coached the team

  • Francisco García (Pachico)
  • Eduardo Viso Abella
  • Otto Pedro Bumbell
  • Carlos Peucelle
  • Alfredo Piedra (Chato)
  • José Ramos
  • Mario Cordero (Catato)

  • Giovanny Rodríguez
  • Raúl Betancourt
  • Jozef Bouska
  • Odir Jaques

General Manager

  • Mario Sánchez de Cima

Football Operations Manager

Commercial Manager

  • Mario Jiménez

Head Coach

Assistant Coaches

Head Athletic Trainer

Goalkeeper's Coach

  • Roger Mora

Team Physician

  • Willy Gálvez

The players and numbers are established according to the official website: www.saprissa.co.cr

As of 15 June 2007.

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Costa Rica GK Keylor Navas
2 Flag of Costa Rica DF Pablo Rodríguez
3 Flag of Costa Rica DF Víctor Cordero
5 Flag of Costa Rica DF Jody Stewart
6 Flag of Costa Rica DF Daniel Arce
7 Flag of Costa Rica FW Alejandro Alpizar
8 Flag of Costa Rica MF Walter Centeno
9 Flag of Costa Rica MF Pablo Brenes
10 Flag of Costa Rica MF Alonso Solís
11 Flag of Costa Rica FW Ronald Gomez
12 Flag of Costa Rica FW Ever Alfaro
13 Flag of Costa Rica GK Fausto González
14 Flag of Costa Rica DF Andrés Nuñez
No. Position Player
16 Flag of Costa Rica DF Gabriel Badilla
17 Flag of Costa Rica MF José Luis López Ramírez
18 Flag of Costa Rica DF Jervis Drummond
19 Flag of Costa Rica FW Jairo Arrieta
20 Flag of Costa Rica MF Celso Borges
21 Flag of Costa Rica MF Armando Alonso
23 Flag of Costa Rica DF Try Bennett
26 Flag of Costa Rica FW Manfred Russell
27 Flag of Costa Rica FW Joshimar Reid
29 Flag of Costa Rica MF Jader Valladares
30 Flag of Costa Rica DF Randall Porras
31 Flag of Costa Rica MF Michael Barrantes
35 Flag of Costa Rica GK José Francisco Porras

In:


Out: Contracts Not Renewed

Deportivo Saprissa has won 25 Total Costa Rican National Championships:

  • 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

Deportivo Saprissa has won 8 short championships: (These are not total national championships)

  • 1997-98 Clausura
  • 1998-99 Apertura
  • 1998-99 Clausura
  • 2003-04 Apertura
  • 2005-06 Apertura
  • 2005-06 Clausura
  • 2006-07 Apertura
  • 2006-07 Clausura

Deportivo Saprissa has won 10 international championships: (Plus a third place in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship)

  • 1970 CONCACAF Central American Champions
  • 1972 Fraternidad Centroamericana Champions
  • 1973 Fraternidad Centroamericana Champions
  • 1978 Fraternidad Centroamericana Champions
  • 1985 U.S. Camel Cup Champions
  • 1993 CONCACAF Tournament Champions
  • 1995 CONCACAF Tournament Champions
  • 1998 Copa del Torneo Grandes de Centroamérica Champions
  • 2003 UNCAF Cup Champions
  • 2005 CONCACAF Club Champions (Representing North America in the FIFA Club World Championship - Third place)

v • d • e
Deportivo Saprissa – current squad

1 Navas •  Gomez • 3 Cordero • 5 Stewart • 6 Arce • 7 Alpizar • 8 Centeno • 9 Brenes • 10 Solís • 21 Alonso • 12 Alfaro • 13 González • 14 Nuñez • 31 Barrantes • 17 López • 18 Drummond • 19 Arrieta • 20 Borges • 23 Bennett • 26 Greaves • 27 Reid • 29 Valladares • 30 R. Porras • 35 J.F. Porras • Manager: Campos


Primera División de Costa Rica 2007/08 teams
v • d • e

LD Alajuelense | Brujas FC | AD Carmelita | CS Cartaginés | CS Herediano | Liberia | Pérez Zeledón | Puntarenas FC | AD San Carlos | Santos | Saprissa | Universidad de Costa Rica
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportivo_Saprissa"
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