RCD Espanyol presented its new technical secretary, Ángel Catalina, who arrives from Deportivo Saprissa in Costa Rica. There he worked as the Sports Manager of the Costa Rican club for the last two years and now he will work hand in hand with Fran Garagarza to seek promotion with the blue and white team.
For Catalina, born in Seville, this will not be her first experience in the technical secretariat of a LaLiga club. In 2012 he assumed that position at Real Betis, and in 2016 he arrived at UD Almería to assume the same position. He also had steps in other positions at Betis and Real Valladolid, before his adventure in Costa Rica.
In May 2021, he was presented as the Sports Manager of Deportivo Saprissa, the most winning club in Costa Rica. During its time in soccer in that country, the team won three titles: a super cup and three leagues, the last in May of this 2023 when the team won the two-time championship.
In his experience in the Central American country, he also contributed to the Costa Rican National Team, when in October 2021 he was appointed part of the Technical Commission that helped achieve the qualification of the national team for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
In his own words, soccer is a priority in his life, as he told La Teja de Costa Rica. “I am quite obsessive with soccer, it does not come out of my head (…) it is difficult for me to find time because I am obsessive with work,” said Catalina, who has Monchi as her highest reference in sports management.
With a low profile, away from the spotlight and controversy, Catalina works in silence. At Saprissa she was rarely in the news, but little by little she earned the affection of a fan base that now regrets her departure from the club. Social networks were quickly filled with messages of thanks to the Spaniard, including the club’s president, Juan Carlos Rojas.
“We wish to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to Ángel. His professionalism, passion and dedication have been fundamental to the growth and achievements of the team during his tenure, and now we wish him great success in a club with a great tradition and renown. in Spain,” said Rojas.
And it is that the historic relationship between Espanyol and Saprissa is not new. Ricardo Saprissa, founder of the Costa Rican team, stood out as a footballer for the blue and white team with which he won the Cup in 1929, in addition to having been Honorary President from 1932 until his death in 1990. Currently gate 31 of the Stage Front Stadium bears the name from Saprissa.
This is how the paths of these two entities cross again, this time with the passage of Ángel Catalina. Now, after two years in Costa Rica, the Sevillian lands in Barcelona to join Fran Garagarza’s work team and join forces in search of the blue and white team’s main objective, a return to the first division.
