#LDAvMTL | 10 pm ET; FOX Sports 2, Unimás in US; Sportsnet 360, TVA Sports in Canada
- Armchair Analyst: A quick word about Ignacio Piatti & the Impact counter (4/7)
- Alajuelense fans confident of "la remontada" on home turf vs. Montreal Impact (4/7)
- Impact coaches drop in on Alajuelense for peek at Ticos' "mentality, attitude" (4/7)
- Impact calm, focused in Costa Rica with 90 solid minutes needed to reach final (4/7)
- Impact return to full health ahead of second leg (4/6)
- Is a 2-0 lead safe? What CCL history tells us (4/3)
- Salvadoran Joel Aguilar named referee for second leg (4/1)
- Montreal take positives from first leg, know there's work to do (3/18)
ALAJUELA, Costa Rica – The comeback is on.
That, at least, is what Alajuelense supporters believe. La Liga’s Twitter hashtag, since Montreal defeated them 2-0 in the first leg, has been #R3M0NTADA.
It’s not just a clever play on words and numbers. It's the only result they’re thinking about for this Tuesday night, in the second leg of the Alajuelense-Montreal semifinal tie.
Walking around the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto on Monday afternoon, where 500 supporters had converged 24 hours earlier for a “motivation session” with chants and flags, dozens of men were trying to sell tickets to the game, trying to make a small profit. And the mood was upbeat.
“Sure, La Liga will win 3-0,” an Alajuelense supporter named Alfredo told MLSsoccer.com. “They will complete the comeback. [Alajuelense forward] Jonathan McDonald is really good, he’ll score for sure.”
The Impact’s Dominic Oduro wasn’t surprised about the enthusiasm.
“Everybody around here is excited to see the end result of this game,” Oduro had told reporters on Sunday. “Even at the airport, we saw guys sticking out ‘3-0’ [gestures], saying they’re going to beat us 3-0. They wish!
"But it’s all fun and games. It’s what makes the game exciting. The hype is good right now, and hopefully, the game will live up to expectations.”
The confidence is high, sure. But the more gameday approaches, the more respect the Impact seem to be given.
This Tuesday, local newspaper La Republica – despite its focus on the economy – published two pieces on the game. One quoted Alajuelense head coach Óscar Ramírez as saying that his team had had “good time to work on what we want with the Impact ... with a clear mind,” but columnist Gaetano Pandolfo was more cautious, deeming Cameron Porter's injury and inability to lead the Montreal attack “huge news.”
Even on Monday, every ticket reseller MLSsoccer.com spoke to admitted that, despite the confidence in la remontada, Montreal could well score in the stadium known locally as la Catedral ("the cathedral").
“Montreal is a very good team,” said one of them. “They’ve got very good players down the flanks, really fast guys. They could make it.”
But maybe that was wishful thinking. He was a Saprissista, a supporter of Alajuelense's biggest rivals.
