A trip to Costa Rica for CONCACAF Champions League
The Philadelphia Union’s first adventure into CONCACAF Champions League will take them to Costa Rica.
The Union were drawn against Deportivo Saprissa in the Round of 16 of the CCL Wednesday night, a two-leg tie in April.
The first leg, in the Costa Rican capital San Jose, will be played April 6-8, with the second leg in Chester April 13-15. The latter date is the week the MLS season starts, moved back two weeks to April 17.
“This is the challenge our club wanted as we take the next step and are Supporters’ Shield champions and want to grow our club and move it forward,” coach Jim Curtin said via a Zoom conference. “I think the experience of playing in a hostile environment against a very good team like Saprissa will only make us better. We enter this competition just like everyone else, with the goal of winning it.”
The winner of the Union’s tie takes on the survivor of Costa Rican champ Alajuelense and Atlanta United in a two-leg quarterfinal in late April and early May.
It’s the Union’s first continental foray in its 12th season. The Union were supposed to take part in the second-tier CONCACAF League in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled that.
Saprissa, the 35-time champion of the Primera Division de Costa Rica (Liga FPD), is one of the most accomplished Central American sides, winning CCL three times (last in 2005) and making the final in 2004 and 2008. Their current squad includes former MLSers like Kendal Waston, David Guzman and Christian Bolanos among a bevy of national team stalwarts. They currently sit fifth in the league but are mid-season, something the Union won’t be when the teams meet.
Curtin is familiar with Saprissa, having played there with the Chicago Fire.
“I can say from experience going to play in Costa Rica, where the fans are so passionate, having played against Saprissa, I can warn them that it’s going to be very purple and it’ll be a very challenging environment to play in,” Curtin said.
Much of the Union’s excitement for CCL play is continuing to raise the club’s international profile. The draw came on a day that its two most prominent emissaries did that in Europe. Mark McKenzie, in his fourth game for KRC Gent, helped them advance in the Belgian Cup Round of 16. Brenden Aaronson scored his first goal for Red Bull Salzburg in an Austrian Bundesliga game against Austria Vienna.
“They’re thriving over there,” Curtin said. “They’re not just learning and coming in off the bench; they’re making big impacts for their team. That’s something we’re proud of as a club. … For those guys to have success, that’s special.”
Curtin hopes the players that remain, who he said are working hard to get started once MLS gives the OK for the preseason, are ready to pick up where they left off in the regular season.
“While we are the new team in this competition, I
don’t think we’re going to sneak up on anybody or surprise anybody like maybe we have in the past three seasons in MLS where we’ve had a lot of success,” Curtin
said. “We’re maybe the new kid on the block, but we’re coming into this competition not just to be happy to be here but to try to win and get results.”