Saprissa fans. Source: Facebook

The most heated football rivalry in Costa Rica produced eight goals and caused a fan to suffer a heart attack at the stadium. Known as El Clasico, the most recent iteration of the match between Deportivo Saprissa and Liga Deportiva Alajuelense was the most exciting in history. The match ended with a spectacular tie of 4 – 4 and reports of a man struck by a heart attack.

The match was played at the Chinese-donated National Stadium of Costa Rica, located in La Sabana Metropolitan Park. None of the teams deserved to lose this match, which makes the tied score a just ending. In the first 15 minutes, ball possession was evenly distributed, although Alajuela’s Jerry Palacios came dangerously close to scoring.

At the 23^rd minute, Kevin Sancho opened the scoreboard for La Liga with a header. Kenneth Garcia followed with two shots on goal; the first one was blocked by Saprissa goalkeeper Donny Grant, but the second one was an unstoppable rocket. At that time, Alajuela had a comfortable two-goal lead over Saprissa in the first half.

Saprissa’s Michael Barquero, who seemed to cover every sector of the pitch during the match, scored at the 38^th minute. He was followed by David Ramirez. At the 42^nd minute, we were looking at a 2 -2 score, with Saprissa applying pressure in each play.

At the 44^th minute, Barquero launched a powerful shot on goal from mid-distance to put Saprissa ahead 3 -2. The crowd at the National Stadium exploded, and this is when a fan fell down from the upper seats. Security personnel at the National Stadium rushed to help the man as the teams played out the remaining seconds of the first half. Reports from radio sports broadcasters and Twitter indicate that the man may have suffered a heart attack.

Se los juro que alguien tuvo un ataque cardíaco en el Estadio Nacional cuando Saprissa anoto el 3 – 2 en el primer tiempo.

— Carlos Aparicio (@CAparicioArias) September 22, 2013

In the second half, La Liga relied on very long passes for quite a few minutes. The strategy paid off at the 57^th minute, when a Saprissa defender got confused and served a header past his own goalposts. The game was once again tied, this time 3 – 3.

A mistake by star player Yeltsin Tejeda, who was crucial during the recent match between the National Teams of Costa Rica and the United States, ended up in a goal by Alejandro Alpizar, whose nickname is -very appropriately- El Matador. Just when it looked like La Liga would go home with a victory, Saprissa’s Diego Estrada took advantage of a mistake by Porfirio Brenes, once again sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Final score 4 – 4, and Saprissa has not yet lost a match this season.