Atlanta United traveled to Costa Rica on Sunday evening to compete in Leg One of its Round of 16 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (SCCL) matchup.
The team trained Monday evening in Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto to prepare for Tuesday night’s match.
The 5-Stripes kicked off the first match of 2021 on Tuesday with new head coach Gabriel Heinze.
At the end of the first half, Brad Guzan received a red card, resulting in the debut of Eighteen-year-old Rocco Ríos Novo, a goalkeeper for Atlanta United 2 who signed a Short-Term Agreement Monday. The dual-national Argentine made six saves in the second half to preserve the clean sheet, which also set the club’s single-match record in SCCL play.
Ezequiel Barco scored from the PK spot at the beginning of the second half to secure the first leg victory.
Amidst the action, striker Josef Martínez made his long-awaited return to the field since his season-ending injury in February 2020 when he entered as a substitute, replacing López in the 67th minute.
Atlanta and Alajuelense face each other for Leg Two next Tuesday, April 13 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia.
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