Deportivo Saprissa

Saprissa
Full name Deportivo Saprissa, SAD
Nickname(s) La S (The "S")
El Monstruo Morado (The Purple Monster)
Founded 16 July 1935; 82 years ago
Ground Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá
Ground Capacity 23,112
Owner Horizonte Morado
Chairman Juan Carlos Rojas Callán
Manager Carlos Watson
League Liga FPD
2016–17 Invierno 2016: 1st
Second stage: 1st (Champions)
Verano 2017: 1st
Second stage: 3rd
Final: Runners-up
Overall: 1st

Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is located in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple (burgundy) and white. The club was founded in 1935 and has competed in the Costa Rican first division since 1949. The name of the team comes from one of the club's main founders, Ricardo Saprissa. One of the most popular nicknames for the team El Monstruo Morado (The Purple Monster) can be traced back to 1987, when the Costa Rican newspaper Diario Extra gave the team the nickname during a derby, because of the club's enormous following. A reporter commented that the sea of fans in the stands at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá in Tibás wearing purple, and the tremendous noise they were generating, made him feel like he was "in the presence of a thousand headed monster". Saprissa immediately adopted the nickname El Monstruo Morado.

Saprissa won 33 Primera División de Costa Rica championships, including six consecutive national titles in the 70s. It stands as one of the more successful teams in the CONCACAF region as well, having won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup three times – in 1993, 1995, and 2005. Saprissa has also won five Central American crowns in 1972, 1973, 1978, 1998, and 2003.

For the period 1 September 2007 to 31 August 2008 the club was ranked the 106th best team in the world by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, an organization recognized by FIFA.[1]

Saprissa has regularly appeared in the CONCACAF Champions Cup finals in recent decades, with three first-place finishes and four runners-up finishes. One of the club's most notable moments came in 2005 when Saprissa became the second club in CONCACAF to finish third in the FIFA Club World Cup together with the Mexican club Necaxa who accomplished it in 2000 (and were joined in 2012 by another Mexican club, Monterrey).

The club was chosen by the IFFHS as the CONCACAF team of the 20th Century.[2] This event gave Saprissa worldwide recognition. Their main partner is a Costa Rican Investment Consortium named Horizonte Morado (Purple Horizon), composed mainly of Juan Carlos Rojas Callán, Edgar Zurcher, Alberto Raven Odio, and Televisora de Costa Rica.

History

Deportivo Saprissa was founded on July 16, 1935 by Roberto Fernández who named his team after the man who sponsored their uniform, Don Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The club entered the Costa Rican Third Division as Saprissa F.C. They were promoted to the Primera División de Costa Rica, making their debut in the top flight on 21 August 1949. One of the most notable achievement of their early years, was to win the third and second division titles undefeated. The club has remained in the Costa Rican top flight ever since.

Recent events

In 2003, the majority of the club's stock was bought by Mexican entrepreneur Jorge Vergara, the owner of Mexican football club Club Deportivo Guadalajara[3] and soon after the operator of Major League Soccer club Club Deportivo Chivas USA in the United States.

Saprissa won the 2005 CONCACAF Champions Cup, beating Mexican club UNAM in the final over two legs, in May 2005. As CONCACAF club champions they qualified for the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship, held in Japan in December 2005. They beat Australian club Sydney FC in the quarter-finals thanks to a goal by Christian Bolaños. In the semi-finals they were beaten 3–0 by English club Liverpool, who were the Champions League holders that year, making it the strongest team in Europe. In the third place match they beat Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia 3–2. Álvaro Saborío scored two goals, and Rónald Gómez scored an astonishing free-kick final goal in the 89th minute to seal the win. They finished the competition in third place behind São Paulo of Brazil and Liverpool. Saborío was joint top scorer, and Bolaños was awarded the Bronze Ball by FIFA as third best player of the championship. They will play in 2013 IFA Shield

Team Colours

Even though the very first colours were red and white, the team is known by their purple-burgundy colour. Red and white were utilised very briefly, and Ricardo Saprissa's influence from the Polo Club of Barcelona had the team try red and blue instead, even though this is the origin of the colour used throughout all of its history. When the new kit for 1937 (red and blue) was being manufactured, some of the threads got mixed evenly along the sides of the jerseys, producing a type of purple, resembling a burgundy/maroon colour. This new colour went down well with everyone involved, it reflected class and originality, and it was selected as the team's official colour. It was decided that the team's shield would appear on the chest of the uniform, with a notable bold white letter "S".

Saprissa utilizes a burgundy jersey with white and grey details, and white shorts with burgundy and grey details for home games. For away games, a white jersey with burgundy and grey details is used, and white shorts with burgundy and grey details.

Stadium

Fans of "La Ultra Morada" in La Cueva

Saprissa plays home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá named after Ricardo Saprissa. They originally played at the Costa Rica National Stadium, which they rented and shared.

A new site for a stadium was bought in 1965 and on 27 August 1972 after six years of construction and upgrades, Estadio Ricardo Saprissa was officially opened. The first match was between Deportivo Saprissa and Comunicaciones of Guatemala. The match ended in a 1–1 draw with Peter Sandoval of Comunicaciones scoring the first goal at the new stadium.

The stadium is called La Cueva del Monstruo (The Monster's Cave), after the nickname of the club, El Monstruo Morado ("The Purple Monster"). It has a seating capacity of 24,000 and is overlooked by local mountains and downtown San Jose.

The stadium has great fame internationally, especially with all the national teams that play against Costa Rica.

Supporters

La Ultra Morada (The Purple Ultra) is the club's most radical supporters group, even though it is not recognized as an official or formal part of the club. This group is always set on the south side of the stadium. La Ultra Morada is categorized as an "ultras group" or "ultras movement", being similar to what is more commonly known to outsiders as "hooligans"; even though members of La Ultra Morada, or simply La Ultra, emphasize their support for the club by creating a passionate atmosphere during matches. The group was the first Ultras group in Costa Rica, formed in 1995 when the then Saprissa president Enrique Artiñano brought fans from the Chilean football club Universidad Católica, to help build a similar ultras group to their "Los Cruzados", for Saprissa. In the mid-to-late 1990s the Ultras began to develop the image of being football hooligans when violence began to break out with opposition fans during games. Due to the negative atmosphere and press coverage, Saprissa officials stepped in to restore order to a group that they had help create. The group is sub-divided in smaller groups called "peñas". They maintain the style of a classic Ultras group, with chants, choreos, pyro shows (flares and gunpowder), abundant flags, giant banners, and the constant beat of an oversized bass drum.

There are, however, several different other supporter group that are legally recognized by the club. These groups occupy different zones in the stadium, and they are mainly groups that get organized with transportation, original merchandise, and massive displays for the team during a game (confetti, balloons, banners, flares, etc.)

Mascot

The official mascot of the team is a cartoonish purple dragon, which was based on the Dragon Elliot, and similar to one of Dragontales and many other dragons from children shows. Because of this, many of the fans call the mascot "Un monstruo amigable" which means "A friendly monster". The mascot was meant to appeal to children in general, but it ended up being loved by the entirety of the fans. This caused it to be present in all kinds of paraphernalia and merchandise. It is the most recognizable and appreciated mascot in all the region However, in early 2010, a new mascot was introduced. The mascot was designed in Mexico and many club supporters felt that it was a campy, superhero-like purple monster. As a result, the new mascot was highly rejected by the fans, claiming that "No queremos un dinosaurio super héroe, queremos al espíritu del equipo (We don't want a super hero, we want the original spirit of the team)". The new mascot was replaced immediately after the strong rejection, and the team now has a new mascot that resembles the original. The new costume was manufactured by Fernando Thiel, a widely recognized Argentina-born puppeteer who lives in Costa Rica.

Honours

National

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, 2007 Invierno, 2008 Verano, 2008 Invierno, 2010 Verano, 2014 Verano, 2014 Invierno, 2015 Invierno, 2016 Invierno
1997-98 Clausura, 1998–99 Apertura, 1998–99 Clausura, 2003–04 Apertura, 2005–06 Apertura, 2005–06 Clausura, 2006–07 Apertura, 2006–07 Clausura
1950, 1960, 1963, 1963, 1970, 1972, 1976, 2013

International

Winners (3): 1993, 1995, 2005
Runners-up (4): 1970, 1973, 2004, 2008
Winners (5): 1972, 1973, 1978, 1998, 2003
Runners-up (7): 1971, 1974, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007
Runners-up (2): 1993, 1995
Winners (1): 1970
Winners (1): 1985
Third Place (1): 2005

Record versus other nations' teams

As of 2015-02-27

The Concacaf opponents below = Official tournament results: (Plus a sampling of other results)

Opponent Last Meeting G W D L F A PTS +/-
Saudi Arabia Al Ittihad 18 – Dec – 2005 1 1 0 0 3 2 3 +1
El Salvador Alianza 24 – Feb – 2000 16 8 5 3 29 16 26 +13
Mexico América 25 – Feb – 2015 6 0 2 4 8 15 2 -7
Panama Árabe Unido 00 – ??? – 0000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mexico Atlante 20 – March – 2008 2 1 0 1 4 2 3 +2
Spain Atlético Madrid 04 – Aug – 2012 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Colombia Atlético Nacional 03 – April – 1997 2 0 1 1 3 4 1 -1
Guatemala Aurora 26 – Nov – 1998 15 6 6 3 25 19 19 +6
Austria Austria Wien 27 – Dec – 1959 3 1 0 2 4 10 2 -6
Argentina Banfield 12 – Aug – 1974 3 1 1 1 3 5 3 -2
Germany Borussia Dortmund 01 – Oct – 1994 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0
United States Chicago Fire 21 – April – 2004 2 1 0 1 3 2 3 +1
United States Columbus Crew 29 – Sept – 2009 4 1 2 1 4 3 5 +1
Guatemala Comunicaciones 21 – Dec – 2003 25 11 9 5 38 29 37 +9
Mexico Cruz Azul 20 – Oct – 2009 6 1 2 3 5 12 5 -7
Brazil Cruzeiro 14 – March – 1971 2 1 1 0 4 2 3 +2
Uruguay Defensor Sporting 29 – Jan – 2008 1 0 1 0 3 3 1 0
United States D.C. United 09 – Oct – 2008 2 1 1 0 4 2 4 +2
Argentina Estudiantes 26 – Dec – 1965 2 0 2 0 3 3 2 0
El Salvador FAS 03 – Dec – 2004 6 4 2 0 10 4 12 +6
England Fulham 20 – July – 2013 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 0
Brazil Grêmio 19 – May – 1985 2 0 1 1 2 5 1 -3
Germany Hertha Berlin 09 – July – 2005 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 -2
United States Houston Dynamo 09 – April – 2008 2 1 1 0 3 0 4 +3
Colombia Independiente Medellín 10 – Sept – 1996 2 1 1 0 3 2 4 +1
Mexico León 16 – Aug – 1998 3 1 2 0 4 2 5 +2
England Liverpool 15 – Dec – 2005 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 -3
United States Los Angeles Galaxy 08 – March – 2006 2 1 1 0 3 2 4 +1
El Salvador Luis Ángel Firpo 21 – July – 1999 4 2 1 1 7 4 6 +3
Israel Maccabi Haifa 20 – April – 1959 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 +1
India Mohun Bagan 10 - March - 2013 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 +1
Mexico Monarcas Morelia 19 – March – 2002 2 1 0 1 1 2 3 -1
Mexico Monterrey 28 – Sept – 2010 4 0 3 1 5 6 3 -1
Honduras Motagua 07 – Dec – 2007 15 9 5 1 24 7 24 +17
Guatemala Municipal 12 – Sept – 2001 21 7 10 4 22 16 27 +6
Uruguay Nacional 30 – Jan – 2008 3 0 3 0 3 3 3 0
Mexico Necaxa 28 – Sept – 1999 3 0 2 1 3 4 2 -1
Paraguay Olimpia 28 – Jan – 2008 2 1 1 0 5 3 4 +2
Honduras Olimpia 03 – March – 2011 15 9 2 4 27 19 25 +8
Mexico Pachuca 19 – March – 2008 4 1 1 2 5 6 4 -1
Uruguay Peñarol 08 – Jan – 2007 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
United States Portland Timbers 19 - Oct - 2016 2 1 1 0 5 3 4 +2
Mexico Puebla 02 – Sept – 1993 2 0 2 0 1 1 2 0
Argentina Racing Club 09 – Feb – 1975 5 1 2 2 7 9 4 -2
Honduras Real España 20 – Nov – 1998 8 3 1 4 10 10 7 0
Nicaragua Real Estelí 23 – Aug – 2006 7 6 1 0 16 3 0 +19
Spain Real Madrid 08 – Aug – 1961 1 0 0 1 2 4 0 -2
Panama San Francisco 00 – ??? – 0000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brazil Santos 18 – Feb – 1972 4 0 1 3 8 16 1 -8
United States Seattle Sounders FC 10 – Oct – 2010 2 2 0 0 4 1 6 +3
Switzerland Sion 09 – July – 2010 1 1 0 0 2 1 3 +1
France Sochaux 11 – July – 2010 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Czech Republic Sparta Prague 08 – July – 2005 2 0 1 1 3 5 1 -2
United States Sporting Kansas City 16 – March – 2005 2 1 1 0 2 1 4 +1
Australia Sydney FC 12 – Dec – 2005 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 +1
Panama Tauro 15 – Aug – 2001 3 2 1 0 6 2 6 +4
Mexico Toluca 29 – March – 2006 3 1 1 1 4 5 4 -1
Mexico UNAM 11 – May – 2005 2 1 0 1 3 2 3 +1
Chile Universidad Católica 23 – July – 2011 6 3 0 3 10 12 9 -2
Totals

Player Records

Most appearances (as of August 8, 2012)[4][5]
# Name Career Apps Goals
1 Evaristo Coronado 1981–95 537 148
2 Víctor Cordero 1991–11 478
3 Jervis Drummond 1995–10 452
4 Walter Centeno 1995–12 449
5 Enrique Díaz 1983–96 444
6 Carlos Santana 419
7 Vladimir Quesada 2000, 2001–02 412
8 Francisco Hernández 1967–83 401
9 Erick Lonnis 1993–03 362
10 Heriberto Rojas 1963–77 336

Most goals
# Player Career Apps Goals
1 Evaristo Coronado 1981–95 537 148
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Players

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Costa Rica GK Danny Carvajal
2 Costa Rica DF Yostin Salinas
3 Costa Rica DF Julio Cascante
5 Brazil DF Henrique Moura
6 Costa Rica DF Heiner Mora
7 Costa Rica MF Ulises Segura
8 Brazil MF Anderson Leite
9 Costa Rica FW Hansell Arauz
10 Costa Rica MF Marvin Angulo
11 Uruguay FW Fabrizio Ronchetti
12 Costa Rica GK Kevin Briceño
13 Costa Rica GK Aaron Cruz
14 Costa Rica MF Jaikel Medina
17 Canada MF Keven Alemán
18 Costa Rica DF Dave Myrie
19 Costa Rica MF Randy Chirino
No. Position Player
20 Argentina MF Mariano Torres
21 Costa Rica FW Anllel Porras
22 Costa Rica GK Mario Sequeira
23 Costa Rica DF Jordan Smith
25 Costa Rica MF Christian Martinez
26 Costa Rica FW Daniel Colindres
28 Costa Rica DF Joseph Mora
29 Costa Rica DF Luis Flores
30 Costa Rica MF Jorman Sánchez
32 Costa Rica DF Luis Hernandez
33 Costa Rica MF Diego Calvo
35 Costa Rica GK Patrick Sequeira
37 Costa Rica DF Adrián Chévez
— Honduras FW Jerry Bengtson

From Saprissa de Corazon (Second Team)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
12 Costa Rica DF Jose Antonio Badilla
24 Costa Rica DF Luis Flores
No. Position Player
— Costa Rica DF Keysher Fuller Spence

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Costa Rica DF Kevin Arrieta (on loan at Saprissa de Corazón)
Costa Rica DF Gualberto Montenegro (on loan at AD Carmelita)
No. Position Player
Costa Rica MF Manfred Russell (on loan at Guatemala Antigua GFC)

Non-playing staff

Name Role
Costa Rica Carlos Watson Head Coach
Costa Rica Douglas Sequeira Assistant Coach
Uruguay Pierluigi Morera Head Athletic Trainer
Costa Rica Róger Mora Goalkeeping coach
Costa Rica Esteban Campos Team Physician

List of Coaches

See also

References

http://www.rsssf.com/tabless/saprissa-intl.html http://www.rsssf.com/tablesf/fraternidad.html#71 http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/ca2.html https://web.archive.org/web/20160112090854/http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/ca1.html http://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/uncaf-club.html

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