- Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa and Pachuca CF of Mexico advanced to the 2008 CONCACAF Champions’ Cup™ Final after eliminating the USA clubs of Houston Dynamo and D.C. United, respectively, in the semifinals on Wednesday evening.
D.C. United posted a 2:1 victory in the second-leg encounter at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. but it was the defending CONCACAF champion, Pachuca that progressed to the 2008 Final after winning the series 3:2 on aggregate.
In the other semifinal, Deportivo Saprissa posted a 3:0 home-win over the Houston Dynamo in the second-leg encounter at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in San José, Costa Rica to claim the series.
The 2008 CONCACAF Champions’ Cup™ Final, which will also be the last edition of the tournament as the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League™ commence in August, will have the first-leg taking place in San José, Costa Rica on 23 April, while the second encounter is set for seven days later in Pachuca, Mexico.
The winner of the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup™ will also qualify to the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008.
The 2008 CONCACAF Champions’ Cup™ Final will be broadcast on television by the FoxSports International regional programming channels (Fox Soccer Channel – USA; FoxSports en Español – USA; Fox Sports Latin America Northern Cone – Caribbean, Central America & Mexico).
2008 CONCACAF CHAMPIONS’ CUP™
Semifinals
SF 1
09.04: Washington, D.C. USA; RFK Stadium (A: 17329)
D.C. UNITED (USA) – PACHUCA CF (MEX) 2:1 (0:0)
Rod DYACHENKO 85’; Franco NIELL 90’ – Damian ALVAREZ 76’
D.C. United: 1-Zach Wells – 2-Gonzalo Peralta, 7-Fred, 10-Marcelo Gallardo, 11-Luciano Emilio, 18- Devon McTavish (65: 34-Franco Niell), 19-Clyde Simms, 23-Gonzalo Martinez, 25-Santino Quaranta (60: 4-March Burch), 26-Bryan Namoff, 99-Jaime Moreno-C (78: 15-Rod Dyachenko). Booked: Emilio 14’, Gallardo 27’, McTavish 47’
TD: Tom SOEHN
Pachuca CF: 1-Miguel Calero-C – 2-Leobardo Lopez, 3-Julio Manzur, 6-Jaime Correa, 8-Gabriel Caballero (72: 22-Paul Aguilar), 10-Andrea Chitiva (58: 7-Damian Alvarez), 11-Juan Carlos Cacho, 14-Marvin Cabrera, 16-Gerardo Rodriguez, 19-Christian Gimenez (79: 25-Jose Torres), 21-Fausto Pinto. Booked: Caballero 27’, Pinto 74’
TD: Enrique MEZA
R: Joel AGUILAR (SLV)
Pachuca CF win 3:2 on aggregate
SF2
09.04: San José, COSTA RICA; Estadio Ricardo Saprissa (A: 20500)
DEPORTIVO SAPRISSA (CRC) – HOUSTON DYNAMO (USA) 3:0 (1:0)
Armando ALONSO 35’; Celso BORGES 48’; Jairo ARRIETA 76’
Deportivo Saprissa: 1-Keylor Navas – 3-Victor Cordero-C, 11 Ronald Gómez (67: 8-Walter Centeno) (80: 17-Jose Luis Lopez), 14-Andrés Núñez, 16-Gabriel Badilla, 18-Jervis Drummond, 19-Jairo Arrieta, 20-Celso Borges, 21-Armando Alonso, 23-Tray Bennett, 31-Michael Barrantes (86: 26-Manfred Russell). Booked: Arrieta 77’
TD: Jeaustin CAMPOS
Houston Dynamo: 1-Tony Caig – 4-Pat Ianni, 8-Richard Mulrooney, 10-Franco Caraccio (74: 11-Brad Davis), 13-Ricardo Clark, 14-Dwayne DeRosario, 16-Craig Waigel 5: 9-Bryan Mullan), 20-Geoff Cameron, 24-Wade Barrett-C, 25-Bryan Ching (77: 7-Chris Wondolowski), 26-Corey Ashe. Booked: Clark 89’
TD: Dominic KINNEAR
R: Marco RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Deportivo Saprissa win 3:0 on aggregate
Final
23.04: San José, COSTA RICA; Estadio Ricardo Saprissa (20:30)
DEPORTIVO SAPRISSA (CRC) – PACHUCA CF (MEX)
R: Carlos BATRES (GUA)
A1: Carlos PASTRANA (HON)
A2: Roberto GIRON (HON)
FO: Walter QUESADA (CRC)
30.04: Pachuca, Hidalgo MEXICO; Estadio Hidalgo (20:30)
PACHUCA CF (MEX) – DEPORTIVO SAPRISSA (CRC)
R: Mauricio NAVARRO (CAN)
A1: Hector VERGARA (CAN)
A2: Joe FLETCHER (CAN)
FO: Mauricio MORALES (MEX)
Photo - Deportivo Saprissa vs. Houston Dynamo, by Eddy Rojas