Second leg semifinals

Today will be held the Apertura 2nd leg semifinals, where both matches are considered to be toss ups. The first match was held in San Carlos, where the local team beat Alajuelense last Sunday 2-1, while Saprissa played at Perez Zeledon on Thursday ending with a draw (1-1).

San Carlos needs to play a very inteligent and low paced game in order to advance to the finals. Alajuelense will probably try to score a quick goal to tie the series and then manage the game with their own fans supporting them. Carlos Castro, Cristian Oviedo, and Giancarlo Gonzalez will not play today for Alajuelense because they all accumulated 5 bookings which lead to a one game suspension. In the first leg, San Carlos showed a very good looking team and they even had the chance to score more goals but lacked in patience and precision, which truduced in a one goal lead. Eventhough the pitch was horrible, (because of the recent rainstorms), both teams held a relatively good match.

On the other hand, the all time favourite and actual champion Saprissa recieves a daring Perez Zeledon. Both teams met on Thursday and Saprissa appeared to be a much stronger and organized team than PZ. Eventhough they were playing as the visiting team, Saprissa had much more ball control and even scored first, but PZ had a strong local support and tied the game.

My predictions today???

There is no doubt, Saprissa will win today, not only because they are playing at home, but because they have a very solid team and I just dont see Perez Zeledon breaking Saprissa’s lines.

On the other match, I will make a risky prediction: Alajuelense will bite the dust; they have a good team but most players lack in experience and San Carlos is now in a tremendous rush.
But who knows… football always finds the way to surprise you.