Ricardo Saprissa

Ricardo Saprissa Aymá (June 24, 1901–1990) was a Salvadoran-Spanish co-founder of one of the most successful soccer teams in Costa Rica, Deportivo Saprissa. He was born in San Salvador, El Salvador to Jose Saprissa and Carmen Aymá [http://www.saprissa.co.cr/ricardosaprissa.htm] . Once a skilled athlete, Saprissa first became famous in his hometown Barcelona, Spain. He played different sports there, excelling at soccer with the team RCD Espanyol, as well as in tennis, grass hockey and polo. He won championships in each of these sports, including Spain's football national championship with RCD Espanyol in 1928, Spain's grass hockey national championship in 1924, and Spain's tennis national championships in 1923 and 1924. He also participated with Spain in the Paris Olympic Games in 1924 and the Spanish Davis Cup team in 1930. In the early 1930s, he left his hometown at the age of 31 to help his brother in the family business, arriving to San José, Costa Rica, in 1932.

Still with a soft spot in his heart for sports, and especially soccer, he became the coach and president of the local team, Orion, guiding them to a championship in 1938. He coached Costa Rica's national team as well, winning the silver medal at the III Centroamerican and Caribbean Games, which he repeated in the next Games, as well as in the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires. Later that decade, Don Roberto Fernández started a little league team, with children from all over San José. He asked Don Ricardo if he could help him out with the player's uniforms, and from them on, the team became known as Deportivo Saprissa. The rest is history: the team started to play every local tournament they could and won most of them. As the young players started to grow, the team began to compete in higher categories. They reached Costa Rica's first division in 1949 and changed the history of Costa Rica's sports forever by becoming the most successful team to play in Costa Rica, an honor they still hold. Since they reached the first division, they have won more national and international tournaments than any other Costa Rican team and became Central America's most recognized team. They already clinched Concacaf's spot for the FIFA's Club's World Cup in Japan in December 2005, which reunites the champions of every FIFA Confederation in the world.

Don Ricardo was the president of Saprissa from 1948 to 1981, taking it from near anonymity to become the region's most recognized team. His team captured the hearts of the capital's citizens first and then the hearts of all of Costa Rica with its remarkable style of play. In 1972, his most beloved project came to life when Saprissa became the first Costa Rican team to have its own stadium, which was named after Don Ricardo. By then, Deportivo Saprissa was the most popular team in the country.

Don Ricardo died peacefully in 1990 and is remembered in Costa Rica with great honor and affection. Among his distinctions, Don Ricardo was included in Costa Rica's Sports Gallery in 1969 and was named honorary president of Barcelona's RCD Espanyol, Costa Rica's Orion, Gimnástica Española, and arch-rivals LD Alajuelense, Costa Rica's other great soccer team.

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