Costa Rica international Christian Bolaños (pictured) has played in three career Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League games. (Photo: Mexsport)
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- Saprissa continued the process of strengthening its roster by announcing Wednesday that Costa Rica international Christian Bolaños has returned for a third stint with the club, inking a two-year deal.
The 33-year-old made his professional debut with the Monstruo Morado during the 2001/02 season and went on to be part of three Costa Rican league titles (2003/04, 2005/06, 2006/07).
For the last two years, Bolaños played with Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps – which he joined on January 20, 2106, after helping Saprissa to 2015 Invierno crown -- scoring five goals in 48 regular-season games.
With Saprissa, Bolaños also won the 2003 Copa Interclubes UNCAF and the 2005 CONCACAF Champions Cup. In the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup, he was named the Bronze Ball recipient after the Monstruo Morado finished third in the competition (3 games/1 goal v Sydney FC).
The 5-foot-9 midfielder moved to Europe in July 2007, joining Denmark's Superliga side Odense Boldklub for two seasons, followed by two with Norway's IK Start, and four with Denmark's FC Copenhagen.
With Copenhagen, Bolaños won the Danish Superliga in 2010/11 and 2011/12 and the Danish Cup in 2011/12, making 141 appearances and scoring 18 goals. In 22 UEFA Champions League games, he netted three goals and also had 10 outings in the UEFA Europa League.
Prior to his second spell with Saprissa, Bolaños split the 2014/15 season with Al-Gharafa of the Qatar Stars League and Costa Rica’s Cartagines.
For Costa Rica, he has earned 80 caps, while competing in two FIFA World Cups (2006, 2014). During Brazil 2014, Bolaños appeared in all five matches, including four starts, as the Ticos advanced to the quarterfinal before falling to the Netherlands in a shootout. He also represented the Central American nation in three CONCACAF Gold Cups (2005: 4/1; 2007: 1/0; 2011: 4/0), the Copa America Centenario (2016: 3/0) and the FIFA U-17 World Cup (2001: 4/0).
In Costa Rica’s successful qualifying campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Bolaños scored four goals to finish as the team’s joint-top scorer with Marco Ureña.
Saprissa will open play in the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League against two-time champion Club America (1st leg: February 21, home; 2nd leg: February 28, away).
