With Sporting KC concluding the CONCACAF Champions League group stage play tonight against Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa, I caught up with Goal.com editor Jon Arnold to preview the match. Live coverage of tonight's match is available on Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Soccer 2Go, and Univision Deportes.
JF: Saprissa's home stadium is known as one of the toughest to play at in CONCACAF. What challenges can Sporting KC expect to face at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa?
JA: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa is fantastic from a sporting standpoint. It's big, they get a ton of fans in there and they are right on top of the pitch. We'll see how many fans turn up but it seems like Saprissa fans are very excited for this match. You hope from a neutral perspective that the fans will show up. The fans are right there on top of you. The turf is not great and pretty unpredictable surface. If the Costa Rican Men's National Team played there, they'd have more of a home field advantage. It's an interesting facility and one of the better and more difficult places in CONCACAF to go get a win.
JF: What is Saprissa's form heading into this match?
JA: It's a totally different feel and vibe around this team (compared to September 18, when the team's last met) that fired their manager. Jeaustin Campos took over as manager and lost his first game but since then they've won five straight in league play. They've been on this very rapid turnaround with a crazy schedule packing in all the matches in they missed due to a break for the Copa Centroamericana. They've had a weekend and midweek game pretty much every week since their defeat at Sporting Park. They've won five straight and scored multiple goals in all but a few of those matches. You're starting to see the Saprissa that you're used to seeing from one of Costa Rica's best teams.
JF: What did take away from the first match at Sporting Park and how that might impact this match?
JA: Before that match, we talked about how the early goal cliche was really going to apply because of how long Saprissa had taken off from league play and in-part because it would allow them to sit back and play for a draw but they didn't get that goal. I think that did turn out to be key. When you have a game where a result has to go a certain way and it has to be by a certain number of goals, I think a team's psychology and the manager's tactics really play a lot into it. I think you see the real spirit of a team and the real capabilities of a manager when you see how they approach a game where you have a fixed task. That's what they have it here on Thursday. Saprissa doesn't have a choice and they got to go for this game. Sporting Kansas City doesn't necessarily have to go out and chase it. I think that will be interesting to watch how they approach this game. Will Sporting KC go out like in the first meeting and play for the early goal. If they do get a goal, will they sit back and defend which would probably be the smart move for Sporting KC. I think that is what is fascinating to watch and the first goal will be immense. If Saprissa can get it, does Sporting KC start to worry or does the moment start to weigh on them. I'm fascinated to see exactly what the tactics will be from Peter Vermes.
