By Michael Lewis – NEW YORK, NY (Apr 4, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis admits he doesn't remember much about his only game at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, except for what transpired away from the action. The US National Team bus pulled up to the stadium known as the Purple Monster in San Jose, Costa Rica for a World Cup qualifying match against the Ticos on July 23rd, 2000.
"There was a ton of fans already," he said. "They and they started to throw rocks at the bus. We had to stop the bus and wait for the police to get there and drive them completely out to get to our locker room."
Within the supposed safety of locker room, the team had to contend with the fans in yet another intimidating way.
"The fans, probably in the rowdiest fan section, sits over your locker room," he said. "They jump up and down and they make you feel like the ceiling is going to come down."
"It was the game where there was the infamous throwing of bags of urine and batteries and stuff like that. I remember warming up to go into that match and getting things thrown at us. It made warming up interesting," Kreis said with a laugh. "You were more nervous about getting hit with something than you were going into what was an extremely important game."
Kreis will be sure to tell his players about his experience before they take on the CD Saprissa and the Purple Monster in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals Tuesday (FSC - 10pm ET).
"It's an electric atmosphere," said Kreis, who also has watched a game there as a spectator. "Its a very vocal and supportive home crowd. It's quite emotional and they're into the game. The easiest thing for me to tell the players right now is that its' going to be very similar to what teams face when they play us. The crowd is going to be all over things. It's going to be an emotionally charged game. It's going to be a team to be looking to jump all over us in the first 15 minutes."
Saprissa has been known to swallow opponents, including the US National Team, which has qualified for six consecutive World Cups, but has never won there in six matches. In fact, whether it has been for club or country, American teams have never left the stadium with three points.
"I was never ever part of a game like that, so much passion literally," said US National Team and LA Galaxy player Landon Donovan, remembering his first game there, a World Cup qualifier in 2001. "In the locker room, the stadium was shaking. There is such an intimidation factor that they use to their advantage that you don't see any where else in the world, even in big European games. You don't see the same environment you see in some of these places."
RSL striker Alvaro Saborio, who will return as an enemy, has played at the stadium as a member of Saprissa and the Costa Rica National Team. Saborio knows how the crowd can spur on the host team.
"It's an amazing atmosphere," he said. "Everybody is screaming. Everybody is jumping. The environment is very important for us," he said, meaning the National Team. "The other team is feeling the pressure. We're feeling the good position. They're jumping for us. They're screaming for us. We have to feel it."
RSL enters the match not necessarily needing to win to advance. A tie would suffice to put Salt Lake into the championship game against the winner of the Cruz Azul-Monterrey series. RSL recorded a 2-0 home win over Saprissa in the first leg on March 15th, with Fabian Espindola connecting for a vital second goal in the 56th minute. That goal gave the MLS club some wriggle room. For example, RSL can lose, 1-0, and still clinch a berth in the final.
"Obviously, it's nice to give a little bit of a cushion to make us a little more comfortable about ourselves," Kreis said. "A draw at the very least is all what we're going to be after."
So it should not be surprising that Kreis expected Saprissa to put the pressure on from the opening kickoff.
"I expect it to be probably the most concerted effort we faced over the 90 minutes," he said. "I'm quite certain they're going to throw everything at us and probably be a bit frantic about it."
For the US National Team, the Saprissa days appear to be over. On March 29th, Costa Rica inaugurated new, 35,062-seat National Stadium in San Jose -- for soccer and athletics -- that will serve as the centerpiece for international matches and World Cup Qualifiers. The Ticos played China to a 2-2 draw in that match. Saborio scored the first goal in the new stadium.
The National Stadium has a different atmosphere. A track separates the fans from the field, which should lessen the intimidation factor. So unless the Costa Rican Football Federation decides to move a World Cup qualifier back to Saprissa, the Monster Cave is now a challenge for clubs rather than country. On Tuesday, Kreis and his RSL team get a shot at taming that Monster and advancing to the Champions League final.
Michael Lewis, the editor of BigAppleSoccer.com, can be reached SoccerWriter516@aol.com.
