After making two appearances in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League (2011/12, 2016/17) and compiling a 1W-2D-3L (5GF, 6GA) record, El Salvador’s Alianza finished as runner-up in the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura seasons to earn a place in the first Scotiabank CONCACAF League.

The Albos went winless in their first five SCCL games, before earning a 3-1 away win against Guatemala’s Antigua GFC on October 18, 2016, with Oscar Guerrero netting all three goals.

In 1967, Alianza overcame the Netherlands Antilles’ Jong Colombia to become the first of three teams from El Salvador to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup.  The others were Aguila (1976) and FAS (1978).

Eight players were on El Salvador’s roster for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup: Oscar Arroyo (goalkeeper); Alexander Larin, Ivan Mancia, Ruben Marroquin, Henry Romero (defenders); Oscar Ceren, Narciso Orellana (midfielders) and Rodolfo Zelaya (forward).

Alianza has won 10 Salvadoran league titles, with the last one being the 2015 Apertura.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Rodolfo Zelaya, Forward: El Salvador’s all-time leading CONCACAF Gold Cup scorer (9 goals) … only Salvadoran to score in three different CONCACAF Gold Cup editions (2011: 4; 2013: 4, 2017: 1) … scored second goal in El Salvador’s 2-0 win over Curacao in the Gold Cup on July 13, 2017 … scored one in 2017 Copa Centroamericana (1 in 1-2 loss v Honduras)

Alexander Larin, Defender: scored two goals for El Salvador in CONCACAF qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup (1 in 1-0 win at Curacao on September 4, 4015; 1 via penalty spot in 1-3 home loss v Mexico on September 2, 2016) … scored Alianza’s first-ever Scotiabank CONCACAF League goal in 54th minute of 1-1 home draw v New York Red Bulls on August 16, 2016

Narciso Orellana, Midfielder: the 22-year-old played in all four of El Salvador’s matches in 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup