Photo: Leopoldo Smith / Getty Images
By: EFE Posted 09 Jun 2023, 9:24 am EDT
The front Joel Campbellone of the main figures of soccer in Costa Rica in the last decade, He returns to his country to play next season with Alajuelense.
What was an open secret in the Costa Rican soccer environment in recent weeks was announced this Thursday when the Alajuelense posted a video of Campbell wearing the team’s uniformadded to some photographs of the player dressed in the club’s shirt as a child.
Alajuelense will present Campbell this Thursday night in a private event for members and on Friday will organize a press conference.
Campbell was in the minor leagues of Alajuelense as a child, but then went to rivals Saprissa, where he trained and from where he went on to English Arsenal as a 19-year-old.
The signing of the striker has caused controversy between the two biggest hobbies in the country, as the Saprissa fans reproach him for having rejected an offer from the club to accept that of Alajuelense, his greatest rival.
The striker arrived in Costa Rica this week to join the team that trains for the CONCACAF Gold Cupand told the press that he wanted to return to his country after spending more than a decade in international football.
Campbell, 30 years old and World Cup player in Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, he played for Saprissa and Puntarenas in the Costa Rican league as a teenager but did not score a goal.
At the age of 19, Saprissa sold him to English Arsenal in 2011 and from then on he developed his career in Europe, playing for both the English team and on loan to Spanish Villarreal and Betis, French Lorient, Greek Olympiakos and Portuguese Sporting Lisbon.
In 2018, Arsenal transferred Campbell to Italian Frosinone, where he spent a season and then went to football from Mexico where he played for Monterrey and León.
The left-handed striker returns to Costa Rica to help Alajuelense resume the title path, as the club they have only won 2 of the last 20 local tournaments.
Alajuelense is the second most successful team in Costa Rica with 30 local titles, surpassed by Saprissa with 38.
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