MIAMI, Florida – A pair of teams making their first ever appearance in the Scotiabank Concacaf League will face off on Wednesday night, as Malacateco of Guatemala meet Panama’s Sporting San Miguelito in the first leg of the 2022 SCL Preliminary Round at the Estadio Pensativo in Antigua, Guatemala.
Malacateco clinched their spot in the 2022 SCL by virtue of winning the 2021 Apertura in Guatemalan football and will now make their first foray into a Concacaf tournament.
The Guatemalan side will be relying on the safe hands of GK Dario Silva, who emerged as one of the heroes of last fall’s domestic title run when he registered two clean sheets in the Final against 2021 SCL champions Comunicaciones.
On the other side, Sporting San Miguelito arrive into the tournament thanks to having the best aggregate record among all non-champions in Panama in 2021-22.
While it is the first SCL for Sporting San Miguelito, the club have experienced the thrills of Concacaf competition before when they qualified for the 2013-14 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League.
Their lone appearance in the SCCL ended in the group stage, but it did include a memorable 1-0 home win against Alajuelense of Costa Rica.
A pair of savvy veterans will lead Sporting San Miguelito forward in this SCL in DF and 2018 FIFA World Cup player and 2020 SCL champion Adolfo Machado, along with historic goal-scorer Nicolas Munoz.
In addition to his 27 career SCCL appearances, Machado played in three SCL matches last season with Alajuelense, while the 40-year-old Munoz is no stranger to excelling in Concacaf competition, having scored 12 SCCL goals in his decorated career, including finishing tied as the top-scorer in the 2012-13 SCCL with six goals.