Xelajú’s protagonists speak ahead of the Final | OneFootball

MIAMI —The 2025 Concacaf Central American Cup Final will mark a first for CSD Xelajú MCwhen the Guatemalan side meets two-time winners LD Alajuelense on November 26 and December 3.

Xelajú will be the first club from Guatemala to feature in the Central American Cup Final. The club seeks to lift its first international trophy in what will also mark its first appearance in the Final of a Concacaf competition.

Juan Cardona: “It's a two-game series where you can't waste a single minute”

“It’s an important moment for me as a player,” Xelajú midfielder Juan Cardona told Concacaf.com. “It would be a very important achievement for my career, and it would also serve to make history at this club.”

“We are preparing with a lot of concentration, studying our opponent a lot,” he continued. “We know the quality of their players, their experience in these kinds of matches, but I think we also have the resources to fight for it.

“I think we've gotten this far because of the work that's been done and well. We just have to keep doing what we've been doing and stay focused. It's a two-game series where you can't waste a single minute,” Cardona added.

Cardona has been a main fixture in the team throughout the competition, featuring in seven out of eight matches so far and contributing a goal and an assist in the process.  

The midfielder gave Xelajú a lifeline in the second leg of the Semifinals series against Real España, with a last-gasp strike in the seventh minute of stoppage time to tie the aggregate at 2-2 and send the match to extra time.

Despite his late heroics, Cardona highlights unity and teamwork as the driving forces behind Xelajú’s success in the 2025 edition.

“Everyone's commitment, I believe that my favorite memory along the way in itself is the commitment,” Cardona stated. “There are players in defense who have cleared balls off the goal line, there have been teammates who have dived headfirst to score a goal. That has made the difference in this tournament.

“Throughout this tournament I think they have made a great effort, and I highlight that, the effort and sacrifice of all my teammates,” Cardona concluded.

Romario da Silva: “We're going all out for this title”

As Xelajú gears up for the Final, attacker Romario da Silva previewed the big occasion.

“We are preparing well to arrive in the best possible shape,” da Silva told Concacaf.com. “We know how difficult the final will be against the team we will be playing. We are very focused and determined to give our all on the field so that everything goes well for us in this final.”

Xelajú started the campaign securing a second-place finish in Group D with a 3-0-1 record Inthe Knockout Stage, Los Chivos eliminated Panamanian club Sporting San Miguelito, 3-2 on aggregate, in the Quarterfinals. The Guatemalan side then overcame Honduran club Real CD España in the Semifinals, 2-1 in a penalty shootout following a 2-2 aggregate draw.

Da Silva, who was signed as a reinforcement, has been a key piece in attack for Xelathroughout the tournament. He has featured in each of the eight matches en route to the Final, contributing two goals and one assist. Da Silva was the hero for Xelajú in Quarterfinals, scoring deep into extra time of the second leg to knock out Sporting San Miguelito.

The experienced Brazilian aims to cap off the competition by claiming his first international trophy, after previously winning two league title since his arrival in Guatemala in 2016.

“It would be a first-time title for me, and not just for me, I think for most of my teammates,” said da Silva. “From the start, we were confident we could get here, and little by little, it happened.

“We believed from the beginning, and there's the result, the effort of each teammate, and the coaching staff who was always there supporting us. Thank God we were able to reach the final, and now we're going all out for this title,” he added.

Amarini Villatoro: “It would be the greatest success in the club’s history”

“It’s a dream come true, both personally and also for Xela as an institution, to be in this final,” Xelajú manager Amarini Villatoro told Concacaf.com.

“We know we aren’t the favorites, we’re facing the two-time Central American champion, but a final is a final. It’s 180 minutes in which we can believe, we can dream of that first international conquest,” continued Villatoro.

“It would be a dream, it would be the greatest success in the club’s history,” added the Guatemalan manager on what it would mean to win the trophy.

Led by Villatoro, Xelajú started the campaign securing a second-place finish in Group D with a 3-0-1 record to qualify for the Knockout Stage.

Xelajú eliminated Panamanian club Sporting San Miguelito, 3-2 on aggregate, in the Quarterfinals. Los Chivos then overcame Honduran club Real España in the Semifinals, 2-1 in a penalty shootout following a 2-2 aggregate draw.

Villatoro will look to his experience managing Central American clubs, including four Guatemalan league title conquests, and in his time at the helm of the Guatemalan men’s national team.

“I think they're a tough opponent,” Villatoro said of LD Alajuelense. “They're a very compact, very complete, very well-coached team.”

“There's a reason they've won the most titles in Central America in recent times,” Villatoro added. “It won't be easy, but anything can happen on the field. We must be focused, play almost perfect matches to be able to fight and try to win the title. It's going to be a great Final.”

Xelajú opens the Central American Final against Alajuelense on Wednesday, November 26 at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica.

The return leg will be the following Wednesday at Estadio Cementos Progreso in Guatemala City, Guatemala, where da Silva and his teammates dream of lifting the cup in front of theirhome fans.