MIAMI, Florida – The 2022 Scotiabank Concacaf League Final between Alajuelense of Costa Rica and Honduran side Olimpia promises to be 180 minutes of scintillating football, and a lot of that has to do with the star-studded talent possessed by both teams.

Look no further than a pair of FIFA World Cup heroes on the Alajuelense squad in Bryan Ruiz and Celso Borges. That veteran dynamic duo played a major role in helping Costa Rica reach the quarterfinals at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, and now the two of them are on the hunt for Concacaf glory in the SCL Final.

Borges has played eight games in the SCL and scored a key goal in the semifinal against Real Espana of Honduras, while Ruiz is seeking his second SCL crown after winning the 2020 edition with Alajuelense.

Olimpia have their experienced players as well, namely Boniek Garcia and Brayan Moya. The 38-year-old Garcia has looked as fresh as ever in scoring a goal and adding an assist in five matches, while Moya, who won the 2017 SCL with Olimpia, has two goals in the current edition.

Fans can also expect plenty of goals because some of the region’s top goalscorers will be taking the field in this Final. It all starts with all-time top scorer Johan Venegas of Alajuelense, who has 16 goals in his SCL career to go along with four assists.

Olimpia have firepower up front as well in the form of Jerry Bengtson, a player with goals in four different SCLs, including two in the 2022 tournament.

Each side boasts their fair share of history-makers, too. When it comes to Olimpia and the SCL, there is perhaps no name more synonymous than Michaell Chirinos. The midfielder won the title with Olimpia in 2017 and has an SCL leading eight assists and six goals in his career.

The same could be said for Alexander Lopez. An SCL champion with Olimpia in 2017, the current Alajuelense man won the SCL in 2020 with the Ticos, becoming just the second player to win the SCL with two different clubs, along with teammate and GK Leonel Moreira (Herediano 2018, Alajuelense 2020). Lopez took home Golden Ball honors in 2020 and has six career SCL assists.

Both sides will be leaning on players to get the job done in defense, but two in particular are also quite adept at contributing on the offensive end. Juan Pablo Montes, a two-time SCL runner-up with Motagua and with five goals in 23 games, will be looking to provide at both ends for Olimpia.

Meanwhile, Alajuelense’s Aubrey David, a 2019 SCL champion as a member of Saprissa, has maintained his high level in the current edition with the most ball recoveries of any defender with nine.

Yet while this SCL Final will have many experienced players and past champions, there will also be a whole host of young players looking to make a big statement on the grandest of stages.

Olimpia’s Jose Pinto and Jorge Alvarez at 25 and 24 years of age, respectively, are entering their prime and have already delivered top performances. Pinto has played in nine career SCL matches, while Alvarez has appeared in six matches in the current edition.

Alajuelense’s 19-year-old starlet Bryan Felix could provide a spark off the bench and already has a goal in this tournament, coming in the Preliminary Round versus Aguila of El Salvador. Another one to follow is the talented Aaron Suarez. At age 20, Suarez has emerged as one of the rising stars in the region and has two goals in the tournament, plus he is one of the team leaders in shots taken (16) and passes (309).

With so much talent and experience on both squads, the 2022 SCL Final promises to deliver quality football from start to finish.