This week's FutbolMLS Digest brings you all the best Spanish-language content from FutbolMLS.com ahead of Saturday's Copa Centroamericana final.
For a Spanish-language preview of the championship game between Guatemala and Costa Rica, as well as discussion and analysis from all the other key international games this week including Mexico's win over Bolivia, be sure to check out the latest episode of Tiro Libre Radio.
The stage is set for the final day of the Copa Centroamericana on Saturday evening, with two of the three games on tap set to define the region’s participation in upcoming continental competitions.
Guatemala, who have been riding a wave of goals from Seattle Sounders winger Marco Pappa, will square off against perennial favorites Costa Rica, who can count on the services of New York Red Bulls full back Roy Miller. In addition to the coveted regional title, the winner on Saturday will also secure a berth in the 2016 Copa America Centenario.
Pappa has led Los Chapines with two-goal outings against both El Salvador and Honduras. The former Chicago Fire man signed with Seattle prior to the start of the 2014 season after a spell in the Netherlands, and has registered three goals and three assists for the first-place Sounders.
“I'm very happy to once again be with the national team after the complicated time I had in Europe, and today with my teammates I want to enjoy the great moment we are going through," he told reporters in Houston after Guatemala booked their place in the final against Honduras. "Everyone knows that Guatemala has had to suffer a lot in the past." (Read more on FutbolMLS.com)
In the fifth-place game, Nicaragua will look to spring a major upset against a below-par Honduras side with a playoff against the fifth-place finisher in the 2014 Caribbean Cup for a berth in the 2015 Gold Cup on the line.
Honduras coach Hernan Medford has taken flak in the press for his team’s showings in the tournament, but insisted after falling to both Guatemala and El Salvador that, “It is not fair to judge me after two games.” (Read more on FutbolMLS.com)
With both teams already qualified for the Gold Cup next summer, El Salvador and Panama will square off for third place. Panama have counted on goals from FC Dallas striker Blas Perez in each of their games and been backstopped by the LA Galaxy's Jaime Penedo, while El Salvador's spirits were raised by a fine performance from former San Jose, Dallas and RSL winger Arturo Alvarez, who rewarded his hometown Houston crowd with a goal in a win over Belize.
"It was an unforgettable night for the team and for me personally a day that I will never forget," Alvarez told reporters after the game. "I have always visualized scoring a goal in front of all the people that saw me grow up and play as a child. Many beautiful memories from childhood crossed my mind after the goal I scored." (Read more on FutbolMLS.com)
