Santa Barbara celebrates with Herediano
I was on my way to Vivero el Poro, near Santa Barbara de Heredia, with my wife when we discovered that the store had closed earlier than usual, I called the owner who kindly indicated that the store had closed early due to a football(soccer) final.
I called the owner who kindly indicated that he had closed early due to a matter related to the football final game.
Neither I nor my wife had any idea that the final was on Wednesday, May 28th.
We were aware that the first leg match had been held at the national stadium the previous Sunday. But we did not know the date of the second leg until that moment.
After having a cup of coffee at the Soda La Tapa del Perol, we decided to take a walk through the center of the city. This is what we saw.
Santa Barbara dressed in red and yellow
When we arrived downtown at 5:00 P.M. there were already many people identified with the local team taking the main street. At the La Popular bar there was a maroon with a giantess representing Jafet Soto. Jafet is the technical director of the Herediano team.
In the town park, the barras and many fans were blaring thunders, while singing part of the repertoire of their songbook.
In the stadium there were two lines that stretched for hundreds of meters, one to the north and the other to the south. The entrance of the fans was slow due to the strong control at the entrance.
Traffic was a total chaos for a few hours but nobody seemed to care. And it was no wonder, this was the first time that Santa Barbara de Heredia celebrated a national soccer championship final.
Why does Heredia play in Santa Barbara?
Since Club Sport Herediano began remodeling its stadium in the city of Heredia in 2020, the team has used some alternative stadiums. Starting with the Coyella Fonseca Stadium in Goicochea, the National Stadium and now the Carlos Alvarado Villalobos Stadium.
What was supposed to be 18 months of work on the new stadium has already taken 5 years!
The Herediano team remodeled the Carlos Alvarado stadium, changing the grass and adding bleachers. They have been playing their home games there ever since.
The red and yellow team has won three championships during the period 2020-2025. But this is the first time they celebrate in Santa Barbara. The game ended 1-0 in favor of the locals and with this they obtained the 31st title in their history.
Will Santa Barbara celebrate a final like this again?
The town had its own soccer team from 1947 until 2004. In that year the franchise was sold to Puntarenas Futbol Club. By then Asociación Deportiva Santa Barbara, had been in the first division since 1997, when it was promoted by the hand of the legendary Uruguayan coach Orlando De León.
Another team was formed just a few years later, Asociación Deportiva Barbareña. This team is participating in the Linafa (Liga de Futbol Aficionado), better known as the third division of Costa Rica.
What happened this Wednesday was something not to be missed considering that Herediano will probably return to Heredia soon.
For the people of Santa Barbara this was something unique in their history, only preceded by the 1997 milestone: the promotion of ADB to the top division. I hope you enjoyed it, because my wife and I did. It was a very nice experience to see up close the soccer party in our favorite city..
Warning: I don’t use artificial intelligence for my articles. ChatGPT is probably already stealing some of this content without giving me credit.