Primera División de Fútbol Profesional Apertura 2008

Primera División de Fútbol Profesional de El Salvador
Season	Apertura 2008
Champions	A.D. Isidro Metapán (2nd title)
CONCACAF Champions League 2009–10	A.D. Isidro Metapán
Top goalscorer	Carlos Ayala (11)
	← Clausura 2008 Clausura 2009 →

The Primera División de Fútbol Profesional Apertura 2008 season (officially known as "Torneo Apertura 2008"), started on August 2, 2008, and finished on December 21, 2008.

C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo came into the tournament as defending champions, having won their eighth league title in the previous season. A total of 10 teams contested the league, 8 of which had already participated in the Clausura 2008 season, and two of which had been promoted from the Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño.

The 10 teams of the Primera División each played 18 matches, playing each team twice (home and away). The top four teams qualified directly to the semifinals.

The winner of the final series gained entry into the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League.^[1]

Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño as of June 27, 2008.

Champions: C.D. Atlético Balboa
Runner-up (won through playoff): Juventud Independiente

Relegated to Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño as of June 27, 2008.

Last place: Once Municipal
Second last (lost through playoff): San Salvador F.C.

Team information

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Chairman	Head Coach	Kitmaker	Shirt sponsor
Águila		Agustín Castillo	TBD	TBD
Alianza		Pablo Centrone	TBD	TBD
C.D. Atlético Balboa	TBD	Gustavo de Simone	TBD	TBD
C.D. Chalatenango		Carlos Meléndez
FAS	Reynaldo Valle	Nelson Ancheta	TBD	TBD
Firpo	TBD	Miguel Obando	TBD	TBD
Juventud Independiente		Jorge Abrego	TBD	TBD
Isidro Metapán		Edwin Portillo	TBD	TBD
Nejapa F.C.		Mauricio Cienfuegos	TBD	TBD
C.D. Vista Hermosa	TBD	Víctor Coreas	TBD	TBD

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	C.D. Águila	18	10	4	4	39	19	+20	34	Qualified to semifinals
2	A.D. Isidro Metapán	18	8	7	3	32	21	+11	31
3	C.D. FAS	18	8	6	4	27	22	+5	30
4	C.D. Chalatenango	18	7	7	4	25	24	+1	28
5	C.D. Vista Hermosa	18	7	6	5	20	16	+4	27
6	C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo	18	5	7	6	20	18	+2	22
7	C.D. Atlético Balboa	18	4	8	6	23	29	−6	20
8	Juventud Independiente	18	4	7	7	21	35	−14	19
9	Alianza F.C.	18	4	5	9	19	25	−6	17
10	Nejapa F.C.	18	2	5	11	16	34	−18	11

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Semifinals 1st leg

2008-12-06

Metapán	1–3	FAS
Héctor Mejía 86'	Report	Osvaldo Mendoza 55', 75' Alejandro Bentos 77'

Estadio Jorge Calero Suárez

Attendance: 2,549

2008-12-07

Chalatenango	3–0	Águila
José Luis Osorio 50' (pen.), 78' Fredy Vichéz 92'	Report

Estadio José Gregorio Martínez

Attendance: 4,800

Semifinals 2nd leg

2008-12-13

Águila	1–0	Chalatenango
José de Souza 79'	Report

Estadio Juan Francisco Barraza

Attendance: 5,122

2008-12-13

FAS	1–3	Metapán
Alfredo Pacheco 65'	Report	Williams Reyes 16' José Amaya 35' Dagoberto Portillo 45' (pen.)

Estadio Oscar Quiteño

Attendance: 11,463

Final

^[2]

2008-12-21

Chalatenango	3–3 (a.e.t.)	Metapán
Carlos Ayala 48' Léster Blanco 62' Amílcar Ramírez 100'		Dagoberto Portillo 47' (pen.) José Manuel Martínez 65' Dagoberto Portillo 113' (pen.)
Penalties
Hermes Martínez Amílcar Ramírez Carlos Ayala Fredy Vichéz José Luis Osorio	3–4	Dagoberto Portillo Williams Reyes Paolo Suárez Alexander Escobar Erick Prado

Estadio Cuscatlán

Attendance: 14,403


Chalatenango
GK		Jassir Deras
DF		Cristian López
DF		Ramón Martínez
DF		Hermes Martínez
DF		Roberto García
MF		Juan Carlos Serrano
MF		Óscar Navarro
MF		Léster Blanco
MF		Manuel Luna
FW		José Luis Osorio
FW		Carlos Ayala
Substitutes:
FW		Fredy Vichéz
MF		Mario Deras
MF		Amílcar Ramírez
Manager:
Carlos Antonio Meléndez


Isidro Metapán:
GK	Dagoberto Portillo
DF	Ricardo Alvarado
DF	Alexander Escobar
DF	Ernesto Aquino
DF	Ernesto Iraheta
MF	Mario Aguilar
MF	Héctor Mejía 70'
MF	José Amaya
MF	Paolo Suárez
FW	Williams Reyes
FW	Julio Martínez
Substitutes:
FW	José Manuel Martínez	71'
MF	Erick Dowson Prado
DF	Jorge Morán
Manager:
Edwin Portillo

Champion

Apertura 2008 Champion
A.D. Isidro Metapán 2nd title

A.D. Isidro Metapán qualified for 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League.

Season statistics

Scoring

First goal of the season: Nicolás Muñoz for Alianza against Balboa (2 August 2008)
Fastest goal in a match: 25 seconds – Alejandro de la Cruz Bentos for FAS against Nejapa (26 October 2008)
Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+9 minutes
- José Oliveira de Souza for Águila against Independiente (23 August 2008)
Widest winning margin: 10 – Águila 10–0 Independiente (23 August 2008)
Most goals in a match: 10
- Águila 10–0 Independiente (23 August 2008)
- Balboa 3-7 Independiente (30 August 2008)
First hat-trick of the season: José Oliveira de Souza for Águila against Independiente (30 August 2008)
First own goal of the season: Luis Espíndola for Nejapa against Balboa (29 October 2008)
Most goals by one player in a single match: 3
- José Oliveira de Souza for Águila against Independiente (30 August 2008)
Most goals by one team in a match: 10
- Águila 10–0 Independiente (23 August 2008)
Most goals in one half by one team: 6
- Águila 10–0 Independiente (23 August 2008)
Most goals scored by losing team: 3
- Balboa 3-7 Independiente (30 August 2008)

Average home attendance

Highest average home attendance: 3,712 (Águila)
Lowest average home attendance: 667 (Nejapa)

Clean sheets

Most clean sheets - Firpo (9)
Fewest clean sheets - Nejapa, Alianza and Independiente (7)

Overall

Most wins - Águila (10)
Fewest wins - Nejapa (2)
Most draws - Balboa (8)
Fewest draws - Águila (4)
Most losses - Nejapa (11)
Fewest losses - Metapán (3)
Most goals scored - Águila (39)
Fewest goals scored - Nejapa (16)
Most goals conceded - Independiente (35)
Fewest goals conceded - Vista Hermosa (16)

Home

Most wins - Águila and Metapán (6)
Fewest wins - Independiente and Alianza (1)
Most draws - Independiente (5)
Fewest draws - Nejapa and Metapán (1)
Most losses - Alianza (4)
Fewest losses - Águila, Metapán, FAS, Chalatenango and Vista Hermosa (1)
Most goals scored - Metapán (24)
Fewest goals scored - Independiente (5)
Most goals conceded - Nejapa (20)
Fewest goals conceded - Águila (6)

Away

Most wins - Águila and FAS (4)
Fewest wins - Nejapa (0)
Most draws - Metapán and Balboa (5)
Fewest draws - Alianza (1)
Most losses - Alianza and Nejapa (5)
Fewest losses - Metapán (2)
Most goals scored - Águila (17)
Fewest goals scored - Nejapa (6)
Most goals conceded - Independiente (25)
Fewest goals conceded - Metapán and Vista Hermosa (9)

Top scorers

Total	Player		Team	Goals per Round
Total	Player		Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
11		Carlos Ayala	Chalatenango	1			1		1			1	2	1		1			1	2
9		José Oliveira de Souza	Águila			2	3	1		1	1		1
8		César Larios	FAS	1		1	1				1	1	1		1			1
8		Williams Reyes	Metapán	1	1		1				1					2				2
8		Franklin Webster	Balboa		1	1	1	2				1		1				1
7		Edgar Leguizamón	Firpo				1	1				1	1	1			1		1
7		Pompilio Cacho	Vista Hermosa	1			1	1	1		1			1		1
5		Rudis Corrales	Águila	2	1										1			1
5		Gabriel Garcete	Metapán		1	1				1		1			1	1
5		Alcides Bandera	Balboa	1					1			1				1				1
5		Emiliano Pedrozo	Nejapa											1		1	1	1	1
5		Nicolás Muñoz	Alianza	1			1	1					1				1
5		Alfredo Pacheco	FAS		1				2				1			1
As of the end of the regular season

Fastest scorers

Scorer	Time (seconds)	Team	Opponent
Alejandro de la Cruz Bentos	25	FAS	Nejapa
Mario Aguilar Posada	40	Metapán	Firpo
Christian Castillo	42	Alianza	Águila

Attendance

Attendance	Round	Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Weekday	Time of Day
14,403	Final	21 December 2008	Chalatenango	3 – 3	Metapán	Estadio Cuscatlán	Sunday	Afternoon
11,463	Semifinal - 2nd leg	13 December 2008	FAS	1 – 3	Metapán	Estadio Oscar Quiteño	Saturday	Night
7,690	Round 2	6 August 2008	Águila	3 – 1	FAS	Estadio Juan Francisco Barraza	Wednesday	Night
6,997	Round 16	12 November 2008	FAS	1 – 0	Águila	Estadio Oscar Quiteño	Wednesday	Night
6,156	Round 8	20 September 2008	Águila	1 – 0	Alianza	Estadio Juan Francisco Barraza	Saturday	Twilight
5,815	Round 15	15 November 2008	FAS	1 – 1	Metapán	Estadio Oscar Quiteño	Saturday	Night
5,307	Round 2	6 August 2008	Alianza	3 – 1	Independiente	Estadio Cuscatlán	Wednesday	Afternoon
5,122	Semifinal - 2nd leg	13 December 2008	Águila	1 – 0	Chalatenango	Estadio Juan Francisco Barraza	Saturday	Night
4,800	Semifinal - 1st leg	7 December 2008	Chalatenango	3 – 0	Águila	Estadio José Gregorio Martínez	Sunday	Afternoon
4,722	Round 13	5 November 2008	Águila	3 – 2	Firpo	Estadio Juan Francisco Barraza	Wednesday	Night
4,510	Round 3	9 August 2008	Firpo	1 – 2	Alianza	Estadio Sergio Torres	Saturday	Night

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
C.D. Chalatenango	Juan Ramón Sánchez	TBD	June 2008	Carlos Antonio Meléndez	June 2008	Pre-season
Nejapa	Mauricio Cienfuegos	Mutual consent	14 August 2008	Emiliano Pedrozo	August 2008	10th
Nejapa	Emiliano Pedrozo	went back to being a player	September 2008	Daniel Uberti	5 September 2008	10th
Firpo	Gerardo Reinoso	Sacked	25 August 2008	Óscar Benítez	2 September 2008	7th
Balboa	Gustavo de Simone	Sacked	30 August 2008	Roberto Gamarra	5 September 2008	10th
Alianza	Pablo Centrone	Sacked	14 September 2008	Carlos Jurado	16 September 2008	5th
Firpo	Oscar Benítez	Sacked	9 December 2008	Agustín Castillo	23 December 2008	Post-season (6th)
Águila	Agustín Castillo	Sacked	15 December 2008	Pablo Centrone	24 December 2008	Post-season (Semifinals)
FAS	Nelson Ancheta	Sacked	27 December 2008	Roberto Gamarra	1 January 2009	Post-season (Semifinals)
Nejapa	Daniel Uberti	Sacked	29 December 2008	Nelson Ancheta	29 December 2008	Post-season (10th)
Balboa	Roberto Gamarra	Mutual consent	1 January 2009	Carlos de Toro	16 January 2009	Post-season (7th)
Juventud	Jorge Abrego	Sacked	December 2008	Juan Ramón Sánchez	December 2009	Post-season (8th)

List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in Apertura 2008. The following players:

have played at least one apertura game for the respective club.
have not been capped for the El Salvador national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace

A new rule was introduced this season that clubs can only have three foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or player/s is released.

C.D. Águila