MIAMI, Florida – Real Esteli will launch their fifth Scotiabank Concacaf League campaign this Thursday when they meet Honduran side Real Espana in the first leg of the 2022 SCL Preliminary Round at the Estadio Independencia in Esteli, Nicaragua.
No club has more SCL appearances than Real Esteli, who are tied with El Salvador’s Alianza and Honduran duo Motagua and Olimpia for the most SCL participations.
After being eliminated in last year’s Round of 16 in a penalty shootout to Marathon of Honduras, Real Esteli will be looking to recover their magic from the 2020 tournament when they defeated 2018 champions Herediano of Costa Rica on their way to a quarterfinal finish and a berth in the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League via the Play-in round.
Real Esteli punched their ticket to the 2022 SCL thanks to having the best aggregate record among non-champions in Nicaraguan football in 2021-22. Nicaragua Under-20 National Team players Keylon Batiz and Widman Talavera, the latter serving as one of the team’s goalscorers in the 2021 SCL, are among a set of young players leading Real Esteli forward.
Real Espana are back in the SCL for the first time since their first appearance in 2018. The Catracho club were the non-champions with the best aggregate record in Honduran football in 2021-22.
No doubt one of the players to watch will be 18-year-old FW Marco Aceituno, who is fresh off of a six-goal performance at the 2022 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship in Honduras with the Honduran National Team, helping them qualify for the 2023 FIFA Men’s Under-20 World Cup in Indonesia.
This will mark the fifth meeting between the two clubs, with all four previous contests coming in the Copa Interclubes de la UNCAF in which Real Espana won two and drew two.