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LD Alajuelense
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Alajuela | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Liga Deportiva Alajuelense | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | La Liga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | June 18, 1919 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, El Llano de Alajuela (Capacity 17,895) |
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| Chairman | Pilar Fundamental Association | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Luis Diego Arnaez |
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| League | Primera División, Costa Rica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-07 | 2nd (Championship playoff, runners-up) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA), is a Costa Rican football club, currently playing in the Primera División de Costa Rica, is one of the most important clubs in CONCACAF.
Alajuelense was the first Costa Rican team to win a CONCACAF Champions' Cup in 1986. The most popular club in Costa Rica[1] is known by their fans as La Liga and has the privilege to be the only Central American club to participate in South American tournaments such like Copa Merconorte in 2000 [2] and the Copa Sudamericana in 2006.
L.D. Alajuelense has a considerable position in the IFFHS All-Time Club World Ranking [3], being the only club of Central America that appears in the list.
The only club in Costa Rica football history with at least one Championship gained in each decade and along with Club Sport Herediano shares the honors of never to have descended from the first category since its creation in 1920.
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The club was founded in June 18, 1919 in Alajuela, Costa Rica by a group of friends who belonged to a team that, at the time, was known as El Once de Abril (The Eleventh of April), giving the Province of Alajuela its first soccer team. On August 2, 1919 Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, or La Liga, played its first game in the city of Cartago against Club Sport Cartagines and achieved one of its many victories with a score of 3-1. In 1921 Costa Rica officially formed a National League creating the first National Championship (Campeonato Nacional) for the country, and La Liga officially became one of the first seven clubs to join. The other clubs that joined were Club Sport Herediano, Club Sport Cartagines, and the now defunct teams of Sociedad Gimnástica Española, Club Sport La Unión de Tres Ríos, Club Sport La Libertad, and Sociedad Gimnástica Limonense. The first year of the Costa Rican National Championship saw nothing but failure for La Liga, as it finished the season in last place. But in 1928, La Liga managed to win the first of many national championships thanks to the skills of a young man that would become one of Costa Rica's most historic soccer figure ever, Alejandro Morera Soto. On September 7, 1930 La Liga had its first ever international victory, defeating Cuba's club team Fortuna 4-2. In February of 1932, Alejandro Morera Soto was signed by Spanish League team Barcelona where he helped FC Barcelona achieve a Spanish League Championship in 1934, being the lead scorer for the team and earning him the nickname of "El Mago del Balón" (The Wizard of the Ball). On October 12, 1949 La Liga and Saprissa played the first of what would become the Costa Rican Classico, where La Liga beat Saprissa 6-5 in El Estadio Nacional. Since 1919, La Liga has been able to obtain 24 Costa Rican National Championships including the most recent one in 2005. They were also the CONCACAF Club Champions in 1986 (disputing the Copa Interamericana against River Plate in 1987), and in 2004. They also have obtained Central America Champion status in 1992, and in 1996 they became the champions of "Campeones Grandes de Centro America", they participated in the Copa Merconorte 2000 with a high performing, and in 2002 they won the UNCAF Cup championship as well as in 2005 , earning the invitation for the Copa Sudamericana 2006. Is the Costa Rican team that has won more short tournaments(9).
The stadium is owned and operated by La Liga Deportiva Alajuelense and is located in El Llano de Alajuela. The project to find a proper site for a permanent home started in 1938 when the director of the club, Carlos Bolaños, proposed that the club should purchase its own land. The land was purchased in 1940, but the site would not be soccer-ready until 1942, when Alajuelense played its first match at the site. The first game was played on January 18, 1942 when Liga Deportiva Alajuelense played Club Sport Cartagines.
On July 20, 1966, due to a motion by the Municipality of Alajuela, the stadium was renamed to honor the great Alajuelense and Barcelona player Alejandro Morera Soto. On March 19, 1970 the stadium saw its first night game when Alajuelense faced Honduras Club team Motagua, beating them 4-1. The stadium is not only home to Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, but it is also shares itself along with Estadio Ricardo Saprissa as the home of the Costa Rican National team.
El Leon Alajuelense (The Alajuelan Lion) is the official Mascot of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. El Leon represents four values that are important to Liga Deportiva Alajuelense: bravery, fortitude, dynamics, and fidelity. Before El Leon became the official mascot in the 1990's, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense's mascot was a Mango, in homage to the town of Alajuela which is nicknamed The City of Mangoes.
La Doce ("the twelve") is Liga's radical fan club. They are called "La Doce" because they refer to themselves as the twelfth player of the team. This fan group sings and jumps during the whole game and follows the team across the country. They have been known to set off fireworks in stadiums and have a reputation for being die-hard fans.
- Official La Doce website:
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Nationals
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- Winners (24): 1928, 1939, 1941, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2004-05
- Runners-up (18): 1930, 1938, 1944, 1952, 1957, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2007
Costa Rican Short-Tournament Championships
- Apertura (4): 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002
- Clausura (5): 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
Other Costa Rican Championships
- Copa Argentor (1): 1928
(One of the oldest and important titles of Costa Rica, since in this tournament the clubs participated of first, second and third divisions of the country eliminating itself to each other)
- Copa de Campeones del Futbol Nacional (1): 1967
- Winners (2): 1986, 2004
- Runners-up (3): 1971, 1992, 1999
- Winners (3): 1996, 2002, 2005
- Runners-up (2): 1999, 2000
- Runners-up (1): 1986
Other Internacional Championships
- 1961 Central American & Caribbean Champions
- 1992 Central American Champions
- 2000 Copa LG Uncaf (Panama) Champions
Friendly Tournaments:
- 2004 Copa Taca de Campeon de Campeones de America Champions against Once Caldas, (former Copa Libertadores Champion)
As of 16 June 2007
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| LD Alajuelense starting line-up. |
In:
Luis Diego Arnaez (Manager) - Signed From Puntarenas F.C.- Mario Víquez - Signed From Puntarenas F.C.
- Windell Gabriels - Return From Municipal Pérez Zeledón
- Kenny Cunningham - Return From Asociación Deportiva Carmelita
- Berny Solorzano - Signed From C.S. Cartaginés
Luis Lara - Signed From Municipal Pérez Zeledón- Erick Jimenez - Return From C.S. Cartaginés
- Winston Parks - Signed From FC Slovan Liberec
Rodrigo Pinheiro “Batata” - Signed From- Leonardo Martins Dinelli “Zada” - Signed From América Futebol Clube (RN)
Out:
- Rafael Rodriguez - Loaned To Puntarenas F.C.
- Wilmer López - Transferred To Municipal Pérez Zeledón
- Carlos Hernandez - Loaned To Melbourne Victory FC
- Josimar Arias - Transferred To Puntarenas F.C.
- Rolando Fonseca - Transferred To Municipal Liberia
- Erick Jimenez - Transferred To C.S. Cartaginés
- André Petroni - Fired
Matias Arce - Fired- Carlos A. Restrepo Izasa (Manager)
- ^ Alajuelense es el equipo preferido en Costa Rica. Phoenix Arizona News, Spanish version (2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-29. "Article which states Liga Deportiva Alajuelense's superiority in popularity over Deportivo Saprissa (Spanish)."
- ^ Copa Merconorte 2000
- ^ International Federation of Football History & Statistics - All-Time Club World Ranking
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Primera División de Costa Rica 2007/08 teams
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