Saprissa Wins Championship Cup
Costa Rica's Saprissa soccer team fell to Mexico's Pumas 2-1 on Wednesday night, but still captured the CONCACAF Champions' Cup on the strength of a 3-2 goals aggregate.

Saprissa beat Pumas 2-0 in San José last week, and the Mexican squad was not able to win by at least two goals in the second-leg match.

The visitors stunned the crowd of 40,000 in Mexico City in the 32nd minute with an aggressive counterattack to a Pumas scoring chance. Alonso Solis controlled the ball at midfield, outmaneuvered a defender, then looked ahead to a streaking Ronald Gomez, who worked free from the left. An accurate pass put him in good position to beat goaltender Sergio Bermal.

After a flurry of misses, Joaquin del Olmo tied it for Pumas in the 65th minute, taking advantage of a sloppy clearing pass from defender Gabriel Badilla and knocking it back past him and into the net.

Pumas' unlikely quest for two more goals got a boost in the 72nd minute when Saprissa's Allan Aleman was ejected for a hard takedown. Using the one-man advantage to press the attack, Brazilian-born Leandro Augusto made it 2-1 with a score from the right in the 92nd minute off a free kick.

That was as close as things got. Goalie Francisco Porras kept Pumas from scoring again.

It was the third Championship Cup victory for Saprissa, which also won in 1993 and 1995. Pumas won the tournament in 1980, 1982 and 1989.