Alajuelense Replika retro baju bolasepak 1996 - 1998

1996 - 1998 Alajuelense retro replicas baju bolasepak. Near-exact replica of the away shirt used by Alajuelense between 1996 and 1998 during the first tenure of Uruguayan coach Manuel Gregorio Keosseián.

The above item corresponds to the variant used from early 1997 until the final stretch of the 1997-98 season, when it was changed for an all-white shirt for the final matches of the season and for CONCACAF qualifiers.

The original shirt (worn from late 1996 to early 1997) featured the Mutual Alajuela sponsor on the original white background with black lettering, whereas the above item (and the original shirt variant, worn from early to mid-1997) has the Mutual Alajuela sponsor on a black box with white lettering. A third variant (worn from mid-1997 to early 1998) features the same design on the front but adds the black box on the upper back and features part of the red and black stripe on the back as well.

This shirt was also interchanged during early 1998 with a white shirt which moved the red and black vertical stripe to the right-hand side of the shirt.

Shirt #23 belonged to third goalkeeper Ricardo González, who was pushed to frontline duty for the 1996-97 finals when both first-choice and sub keepers José Alexis Rojas and Álvaro Mesén were sent off in a post-match brawl against Saprissa for the Segunda Fase finals return match. González made a few starting XI appearances during the regular season, and was promoted to first-choice sub following Rojas's departure (and Mesén's subsequent promotion to the starting XI).

Shirt #23 was issued as a field kit on the above item for customization purposes; and it has been almost exclusively used by sub goalkeepers since at least 1993 up until this day.