The 2008
Torneo Descentralizado (known as the Copa Cable Mágico for sponsorship reasons) was the ninety-second season of Peruvian football. A total of 14 teams competed in the tournament, with
Universidad San Martín defending their national title. The season began on February 17, 2008 and ended on December 14, 2008.
Competition modus
The season was divided into two tournaments; Torneo Apertura from February to July and the Torneo Clausura from July to December. Both tournaments had the fourteen teams play a round-robin home-and-away round for a total of 26 matches in each tournament. The winner of the Torneo Apertura qualified to the
2009 Copa Libertadores group stage and was eligible to play in the season final if they finished above 8th place in the Torneo Clausura. The winner of the Torneo Clausura also qualified to the group stage and was eligible to play in the season final if they finished above 8th place in the Torneo Apertura. A team that would've won both tournament was automatically season champion. If one of the tournament winners failed to place above 8th place, the other tournament winner would've been season champion. If both teams failed to finish above 8th place, the team that placed higher on the aggregate table–the summation of the points earned in both tournaments–would've been season champion. The two teams that placed last on the aggregate table were relegated and the best placed team–excluding the two tournament winners–qualified to the first stage of the 2009 Copa Libertadores. The second and third best placed teams on the aggregate table qualified to the
2009 Copa Sudamericana.
Changes from 2007
Structural changes
*The number of teams was increased from 12 to 14.
*Due to the increase in teams, the tournament winners could finish in the top seven instead of the top six to play in the season finals.
*1,170 minutes of game time was to be accumulated by players born on or after 1989 in the Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura. The amount for the Torneo Clausura was later reduced to 600.
*The minimum stadium capacity was increased from 4,000 to 5,000.
Promotion and relegation
Deportivo Municipal and
Total Clean
Total Chalaco was a professional Peruvian football club based in Callao. The club last played in the Peruvian Primera División in 2010. They placed last and were relegated and subsequently dissolved. The club was founded as Total Clean FBC, and ...
finished the 2007 season in 11th and 12th place, respectively, in the aggregate table and thus were relegated to the
Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...
. They were replaced by the champions of the
Segunda División 2007 and
Copa Perú 2007,
Universidad César Vallejo
Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to:
Places
* Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico
* Universidad (Madrid)
Football clubs
* Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala
...
and
Juan Aurich. The
F.P.F. also invited
José Gálvez and
Minero into the first division.
Season overview
Universitario won the Apertura title after 6 years of failing to win a half-year tournament. They won the title with 50 points, a ten-point lead, and had four games left to be played. Sporting Cristal was the other team close to winning the title, however they had three games left to play and would have been unable to reach Universitario. Universitario had a 15-game undefeated streak and a 9-game winning streak. In the Clausura Universitario did surprisingly worse and finished 11th. They lost four games at home and failed to finish in the top 7 to contest the national title. U. San Martin finished third in the Apertura and won the Clausura with three games to spare. They achieved their second national title after only four years of existence. This is the first time since 1958 where the ''big three'' were not able to win the title for two consecutive years.
Alianza Lima experienced a terrible season because they were close to being relegated this season. Every team, with the exception of José Gálvez, gained points playing at their home ground and they had also lost several home games. Fortunately, Alianza Lima remained in the First Division. Sport Boys saved itself from relegation two years ago, however this year they could not. They were the worst team of the year and won very few games. Problems arose in the club as the players were not paid for many months. This led to a sorrowful year for the fans of Sport Boys.
Teams
Torneo Apertura
Standings
Results
Top goalscorers
;20 goals
*
Miguel Ximénez ''(
Sporting Cristal)''
;13 goals
*
Juan Gonzáles-Vigil (
Bolognesi)
;12 goals
*
Jamie Ruiz ''(
Alianza Atlético)''
*
Héctor Hurtado ''(
Universitario)''
;11 goals
*
Wilmer Aguirre ''(
Alianza Lima)''
*
Gustavo Vassallo ''(
Cienciano
Club Sportivo Cienciano is a professional football club based in Cusco, Peru that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División.
The club was founded in 1901 by a group of students of the ''Colegio Nacional Ciencias del Cusco'' (National S ...
)''
*
Germán Carty ''(
Sport Áncash)''
;9 goals
*
Donny Neyra ''(
Universitario)''
*
Carlos Lobaton ''(
Sporting Cristal)''
*
Pedro García ''(
U. San Martín)''
* Carlos Alberto Pérez ''(
Sport Boys
Sport Boys Association, commonly referred to as Sport Boys or simply Boys, is a Peruvian football club based in the port city of Callao. It was founded on 28 July 1927. Its classic and historic rival is the Atlético Chalaco against whom dispute ...
)''
Torneo Clausura
Standings
Results
Top goalscorers
;15 goals
*
Ronaille Calheira ''(
Sport Áncash)''
;14 goals
*
Claudio Velásquez ''(
José Gálvez)''
;12 goals
*
Miguel Ximénez ''(
Sporting Cristal)''
;11 goals
*
José Luis Díaz
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...
''(
Universidad San Martín)''
*
Sergio Ibarra
Sergio Ramón "El Checho" Ibarra (born January 11, 1973) is a retired Argentine Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker.
Career
Although born in Argentina, Ibarra has played during almost all of ...
''(
Melgar)''
;10 goals
*
Antonio Meza Cuadra ''(
José Gálvez)''
;9 goals
*
Roberto Jiménez ''(
Universitario)''
;8 goals
*
Juan Barros ''(
Coronel Bolognesi
Coronel Bolognesi Fútbol Club is a Peruvian football club located in the city of Tacna. Originally founded on 18 October 1929, It was named after Francisco Bolognesi. Years later, a second branch of the club called Club Sport Bolito, was founded ...
)''
*
Mauricio Montes ''(
Cienciano
Club Sportivo Cienciano is a professional football club based in Cusco, Peru that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División.
The club was founded in 1901 by a group of students of the ''Colegio Nacional Ciencias del Cusco'' (National S ...
)''
;7 goals
*
Donny Neyra ''(
Universitario)''
*
Piero Alva
Piero Alva (born 14 February 1979 in Lima) is a Peruvian international football striker. He currently Retired.
Playing Style
Despite his winding up as one of the top goal scorers in his teams, Alva is more of a thinking, dribbling, and running ...
''(
Cienciano
Club Sportivo Cienciano is a professional football club based in Cusco, Peru that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División.
The club was founded in 1901 by a group of students of the ''Colegio Nacional Ciencias del Cusco'' (National S ...
)''
*
Wilmer Aguirre ''(
Alianza Lima)''
*
Roberto Ovelar ''(
U. San Martín)''
Aggregate table
12th/13th place playoff
''Atlético Minero relegated to Segunda División.''
References
External links
Peru 2008 seasonat
RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around th ...
Peruvian FootballLeague News
{{2007-08 in South American Football (CONMEBOL)
Peruvian Primera División seasons
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