Deportivo Saprissa

"Saprissa" redirects here. For its stadium, see Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. For the player and namesake of the team and the stadium, see Ricardo Saprissa.

Saprissa

Full name	Deportivo Saprissa, SAD
Nickname(s)	Los Morados (The Purple Ones) El Monstruo (The Monster) La S (The S) El Glorioso (The Glorious) El Sapri (The Sapri) Rey de Copas (King of Cups)
Founded	16 July 1935; 88 years
Ground	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá
Capacity	23,112
Owner	Horizonte Morado
Chairman	Juan Carlos Rojas Callán
Manager	Ángel Luis Catalina
Coach	José Giacone
League	Liga Promerica
Apertura 2023	1st (champions)
Website	www.saprissa.com
Home colours Away colours

Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. Their colours are burgundy and white. It is the main team representing the capital, but with the distinction of being massively followed throughout the whole country and overseas. 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 Aymá. 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. It remains the most lauded football team in the whole region.

Saprissa has won 40 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.

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 by two more Mexican clubs, in 2012 by C.F. Monterrey and in 2017 by C.F Pachuca.

The club was chosen by the IFFHS as the CONCACAF team of the 20th Century. 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, and Televisora de Costa Rica.

History

Further information: History of Deportivo Saprissa

Deportivo Saprissa was founded on 16 July 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. That year Saprissa actually won the first final match against Gimnástica Española with 0–3 score, then lost the away game by 6–2 to be defeated again 2–1 in a third game. They were accepted in 1st category as a favor granted by the administrative entity of that time. 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 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. After this "late goal" Costa Rican people start calling the late-game goal "La Saprihora" (The Sapritime) in honor to this late goal even though this event happened in 2005 people still using this name for most of the Saprissa goals scored after the minute 85. 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 out of 5 teams.

Team colours

Even though the original 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 purple/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.

Kit history

Jersey Suppliers

Manufacturer	Period	Sponsor	Notes
	1935–1977
	1978–1979	Olympo
	1980–1981	National
Desport	1982–1985	Bayer
	1986–1990	Coca-Cola
Reebok	1990–1991
Garcis	1992–1993
Trooper	1993–1994
Lanzera	1994
Umbro	1995
Medfsport	1995
	1996	Colgate
Reebok	1996–1997
	1997–1998	LG
Tropper	1998
Adidas	1998–1999
Atletica	2000–2003
	2003–2004
Reebok	2004–2006
	2006–2011	Bimbo
Joma	2012–2013	Bimbo Papa John's
	2014	Bimbo Ibérico
Kappa	2015–2016
	2017–2018	Bimbo Huawei
	2018–2019	Kölbi Huawei
	2019	Kölbi Tío Pelón
	2020–2021	Kölbi BAC Credomatic
	2021–2022	BAC Credomatic Tropical
	2022–2023	BAC Credomatic LIBERTY
	2024	BAC Credomatic Johnny Rockets

Stadium

Main article: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá

Saprissa Stadium packed before a Clasico

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 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, named after the founder of the club. There is a bust of Don Ricardo in one of the corners of the stadium. The stadium is also nicknamed La Cueva del Monstruo (The Monster's Cave/Lair) or La Cueva (The Lair), 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 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 from Pete's Dragon, and similar to one from Dragon Tales and many other dragons from children's 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 dinosaur, 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.

Rivalries

El Clásico

When Deportivo Saprissa faces Alajuelense, it is known as El Clásico. Saprissa is the team from Tibás, in San José, while Alajuelense is from Alajuela. The first duel between these teams was on October 12, 1949, in a match where Alajuelense won by 6–5. The current score of victories is 139 for Saprissa, 107 for Alajuelense and 109 draws.

Christian Bolaños disputing the ball against Rónald Matarrita in 2015

Honours

National

• Primera División de Costa Rica
  • Champions (40): 1952, 1953, 1957, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, Invierno 2007, Verano 2008, Invierno 2008, 2010 Verano, 2014 Verano, 2014 Invierno, 2015 Invierno, 2016 Invierno, Clausura 2018, Clausura 2020, Clausura 2021, Apertura 2022, Clausura 2023, Apertura 2023, Clausura 2024
  • Runners-up (19): 1950, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2002–03, Verano 2017, Apertura 2018, Clausura 2019, Apertura 2021
• Torneo de Copa de Costa Rica
  • Champions (7): 1950, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1970, 1972, 2013
  • Runners-up (7): 1953, 1954, 1961, 1963, 1967, 2014, 2023
• Supercopa de Costa Rica
  • Champions (3): 1976, 2021, 2023
  • Runners-up (2): 2020, 2024
• Recopa de Costa Rica
  • Champions (2): 1963, 2023
  • Runners-up (1): 2024
• Segunda División de Costa Rica
  • Champions (1): 1948
• Tercera División de Costa Rica
  • Champions (1):1947

International

Worldwide

• FIFA Club World Cup
  • Third place (1): 2005

Intercontinental

• Copa Interamericana
  • Runners-up (2): 1993, 1995

Continental

• CONCACAF Champions Cup
  • Champions (3): 1993, 1995, 2005
  • Runners-up (3): 1973, 2004, 2008
• CONCACAF League
  • Champions (1): 2019
  • Runners-up (1): 2020

Regional

• Copa Fraternidad/Torneo Grandes de Centroamérica/Copa Interclubes UNCAF
  • Champions (5): 1972, 1973, 1978, 1998, 2003
  • Runners-up (7): 1971, 1974, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007

Friendly

• Torneo Relámpago de Fútbol de Costa Rica: 1949, 1957
• Copa Mayid Barzuna: 1954
• Trofeo Vuelta al Mundo: 1959
• Copa Ricardo Saprissa: 1982, 1989
• Copa Camel: 1985
• Copa 90 Minutos por la Vida: 1999, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011

Awards

• CONCACAF League Fair Play
  • Winners (1): 2019

Performance in CONCACAF competitions

• CONCACAF Champions Cup: 37 appearances

1963 – Semi-finals

1965 –

1969 – Semi-finals

1970 – Semi-finals

1971 – Second round

1973 – Runners-up

1974 – First round

1975 – Semi-finals

1977 – Semi-finals

1978 – Third round

1983 – First round

1986 – First round

1987 – Quarter-finals

1991 – Fourth round

1992 – First round

1993 – Champion

1995 – Champion

1996 – Second round

1998 – Third place

1999 – Quarter-finals

2002 – Round of 16

2004 – Runners-up

2005 – Champion

2006 – Semi-finals

2008 – Runners-up

2008–09 – Group stage

2009–10 – Group stage

2010–11 – Semi-finals

2014–15 – Quarter-finals

2015–16 – Group stage

2016–17 – Quarter-finals

2018 – Round of 16

2019 – Round of 16

2020 – Round of 16

2021 – Round of 16

2022 – Round of 16

2024 – First Round

• CONCACAF Central American Cup: 1 appearance

2023 – Quarter-finals

• CONCACAF League: 3 appearances

2019 – Champion

2020 – Runners-up

2021 – Quarter-finals

Player records

Appearances

#	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	89
5	Enrique Díaz	1983–96	444
6	Carlos Santana	1972–84	419
7	Vladimir Quesada	1985–99	412
8	Francisco Hernández	1967–83	401	74
9	Erick Lonnis	1993–03	362
10	Heriberto Rojas	1963–77	336

Goalscorers

#	Player	Career	Apps	Goals
1	Evaristo Coronado	1981–95	537	148
2	Edgar Marín			108
3	Eduardo Chavarría			104
4	Álvaro Saborío	2001–06, 2017	155	96
5	Jorge Monge	1953–67	136	93
6	Alonso Solís	1996–12		93
7	Walter Centeno	1995–12	449	89
8	Rodolfo Herrera			84
9	Víctor Ruíz			78
10	Francisco Hernández	1967–83	401	74

Current squad

As of August 31, 2024

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
3	DF	CRC	Pablo Arboine
4	DF	CRC	Kendall Waston
5	MF	CRC	Joseph Mora
6	MF	CRC	Jefferson Brenes
7	MF	CRC	Jefry Valverde
8	MF	CRC	David Guzmán
9	FW	JAM	Javon East
11	FW	CRC	Luis Díaz
12	DF	CRC	Ricardo Blanco
14	FW	CRC	Ariel Rodríguez
16	DF	PAN	Eduardo Anderson (on loan from Alianza Panama)
17	MF	CRC	Yoserth Hernández
18	GK	CRC	Esteban Alvarado
19	DF	CRC	Ryan Bolaños

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	MF	ARG	Mariano Torres (captain)
21	DF	PAN	Fidel Escobar
22	MF	CRC	Youstin Salas
23	DF	CRC	Óscar Duarte
24	FW	CRC	Orlando Sinclair
25	DF	CRC	Jorkaeff Azofeifa
27	FW	CRC	Rachid Chirino
28	FW	CRC	Deyver Vega
29	MF	CRC	Emmanuel Carvajal
30	MF	CRC	Ulises Segura
31	FW	CRC	Fabricio Alemán
32	DF	CRC	Kliver Gómez
37	FW	CRC	Gino Vivi (on loan from LA Galaxy)
40	GK	CRC	Abraham Madriz

Non-playing staff

Name	Role
Vladimir Quesada	Head coach
	Assistant coach
	Head Athletic Trainer
Róger Mora	Goalkeeping coach
Esteban Campos	Team Doctor
José Francisco Porras
Juan Gabriel Rodríguez

List of coaches

• Roberto Fernández "Beto" (1936–47)
• José Francisco García "Pachico" (1947–50)
• Otto Bumbel (1951–53)
• José Francisco García "Pachico" (1953–55)
• Alfredo Piedra "Chato" (1955–56)
• Carlos Peucelle (1957–58)
• Eduardo Viso Abella (1958–61)
• Jorge Thomas (1961)
• Alfredo Piedra "Chato" (1962–64)
• Mario Cordero "Catato" (1964–67)
• José Ramos Costa (1967)
• Mario Cordero "Catato" (1968–70)
• Marvin Rodríguez (1971–76)
• Jozef Karel (1977–79)
• Giovanni Rodríguez (1979–80)
• Marcos Pavlovsky (1980)
• Mario Cordero "Catato" (1980)
• Wálter Elizondo (1981–82)
• Giovanni Rodríguez (1982–83)
• Javier Mascaró (1983)
• José Mattera (1984–85)
• Marvin Rodríguez (1985–86)
• Walter Ormeño (1986)
• Rigoberto Rojas "Feo" (1986)
• Guillermo Hernández "Coco" (1986–87)
• Raúl Higinio Bentancor (1987–88)
• Josef Bouska (1988–91)
• Odir Jacques (1991)
• Rolando Villalobos (1991–92)
• Odir Jacques (1992–93)
• Fabrizio Poletti (1993)
• Julio César Cortés "Pocho" (1993)
• Carlos Watson (1993–94)
• Carlos Linaris (1994–95)
• Luis García "Chiqui" (1995–96)
• Carlos Watson (1996)
• Jorge Olguín (1996–97)
• Alexandre Guimarães (1997–99)
• Carlos Santana (1999)
• Jorge Flores (1999)
• Alexandre Guimarães (1999–00)
• Miguel Company (2000)
• Jorge Flores (2000)
• Valdeir Vieira "Badú" (3 Nov 2000–01)
• Evaristo Coronado (2001)
• Enrique Rivers (2001)
• Patricio Hernández (2001–02)
• Vladimir Quesada (2002)
• Manuel Keosseian (10 May 2002 – 30 June 2003)
• Hernán Medford (1 July 2003 – 30 October 2006)
• Jeaustin Campos (1 July 2007 – 2 November 2009)
• Roy Myers (1 Jan 2010 – 31 December 2010)
• Juan Manuel Álvarez (1 Jan 2011 – 30 June 2011)
• Alexandre Guimarães (1 July 2011 – 31 May 2012)
• Daniel Casas (1 July 2012 – 31 December 2012)
• Rónald González Brenes (1 Jan 2013 – 30 September 2014)
• Jeaustin Campos (30 September 2014 – 17 September 2015)
• Douglas Sequeira (18 September 2015 – 15 October 2015)
• Carlos Watson (15 Oct 2015 – 17 December 2017)
• Vladimir Quesada (18 Dec 2017 – 3 February 2019)
• Walter Centeno (3 Feb 2019 – 7 February 2021)
• Roy Myers (8 Feb 2021 – 18 April 2021)
• Mauricio Wright (20 Apr 2021 – 9 November 2021)
• Iñaki Alonso (10 Nov 2021 – 13 Jul 2022)
• Jeaustin Campos (14 Jul 2022 – March 28, 2023)
• Vladimir Quesada (30 Mar 2023 – 6 Oct 2024)
• José Giacone (7 Oct 2024 - Present)

See also

• CONCACAF Champions' Cup and Champions League records and statistics
• List of Deportivo Saprissa players

External links

• Official website