HEREDIA, Costa Rica – One of the biggest challenges posed to teams in the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF League is balancing their congested fixtures list.
In addition to the rigors of weekly league action, a midweek international cup competition can certainly complicate things.
But that does not feel like it will be a problem for Costa Rican side Herediano, who will square off against Santa Tecla of El Salvador in the SCL Round of 16.
A club that has appeared in eight editions of the SCCL, Herediano is a team that is experienced in handling a busy match schedule and the 2018 SCL should be no different.
“I like to have a structure and a base, but logically there are going to exist matches in less than 48 hours,” said Herediano Head Coach Jaime De La Pava in a press conference on Thursday.
“After the [first] game against Santa Tecla, we will analyze what will be best for the [domestic] match against Santos that next Saturday,” added De La Pava.
De La Pava’s team kicked off its 2018 Costa Rican Apertura in style with a 4-0 win over UCR last Saturday.
On Sunday, CS Herediano comeback twice against Guadalupe to tied 2-2 at Estadio CDI Jose Joaquin Colleya prior to next Thursday’s SCL opener against Santa Tecla, which will mark the start of a three-match run in just seven days.
De La Pava believes that his 31-man roster can handle the duties on both fronts.
“We build a base and from that base with whatever we’re presented we look for solutions. We’ll surely have two teams built. In the preseason in Mexico we worked with two bases which will be used depending on the demands of the league or CONCACAF,” concluded De La Pava.
Herediano open its 2018 SCL next Thursday, August 2 at home versus Santa Tecla of El Salvador. The Ticos will then travel to El Salvador for the return leg on August 8.