CONMEBOL roundup 30 March 2011

Colombia

Once Caldas kept up their leadership of Apertura 2011 with a 3-1 win against Atlético Nacional who slipped into third place after Deportes Tolima took a 0-2 win at Deportivo Cali. The Cali giants have only managed one win in their eight games so far and lie second bottom of the table. The only team below them are Deportes Pereira who drew 2-2 with Independiente Medellín meaning that they have now gone 34 games and a full calander year without a league win.

Millonarios put in another strong performance with a 3-0 win against Real Cartagena to move up into fourth place above Itagüí Ditaires who could only manage a 2-2 home draw against Santa Fe. The game between Junior and America de Cali finished 1-1 with an exceptional goal for either side, Carlos Bacca opened the scoring with a looping backheel goal then América's Brazilian striker Ronaille equalised with an acrobatic overhead type finish.

Paraguay

Paraguay also featured a full programme of matches during international week. Olimpia rediscovered their mojo with a 3-1 win against Tres de Febrero while Nacional seemed to be establishing themselves as Olimpia's only realistic challengers with a 2-0 win against Cerro Porteño. Cerro look all but out of the race and the other two Libertad suffered a 2-0 away defeat to Independiente and Guaraní also lost on the road against struggling Sportivo Luqueño.

The team of the moment in Paraguay are Rubio Ñú who thrashed General Caballero 1-5 in their own stadium.

Chile

There were only three games in Chile last week due to the international break and all of them resulted in away wins. Universidad de Chile hammered Cobresal 2-5 to move up to third which was no real surprise however the other two games were definite upsets. Colo-Colo lost their first game under Américo Gallego and their six game unbeaten streak with a 1-2 home defeat against Huachipato and O'Higgins missed their chance to make up ground on the leaders with a surprising 1-2 home defeat to Palestino who have clambered well away from the bottom of the table with three consecutive wins. Both of their goals were excellent goals from Juniór Fernández wo got away from his defender with a lovely backheel turn for the first one and ran from his own half in the 88th minute evading several challanges to roll the ball home for the winner.

Ecuador

The only action in Ecuador were a few catch up games involving Copa Libertadores participants. Emelec put themselves right back into the title race with two home wins. They beat Olmedo 3-1 in midweek and then recorded a 2-1 victory over Manta to put themselves within three points of leaders Deportivo Quito with a game in hand.

Liga de Quito bagged a 0-2 win against Deportivo Cuenca making them the most successful team from outside Cuenca in games against Deportivo with eighteen victories. They are in second place one point behind Deportivo Quito with a game in hand.

Uruguay

The only action in Uruguayan domestic football over the last week were two resceduled games involving Copa Libertadores participants. Coincidentally both games featured El Tanque Sisley, who are now bottom of the table on goal difference after suffering a 2-4 home defeat against Peñarol and then a 5-2 away thrashing by Nacional (which I refuse to link to because the highlights Nacional fans upload always have the opposition's goals deleted out of them, ruining the narrative of the games).

Nacional are now joint top of the table with Defensor and Peñarol are three points behind with a game in hand.

Venezuela

There were only two games in Venezuela due to the international break. Caracas kept up their title challenge with a 0-1 win at Deportivo Táchira but Yacaruyanos failed in their bid to stay with the leaders after suffering a 1-4 home defeat against Deportivo Lara.

Peru

There was no domestic action in Bolivia due to the international break.

Bolivia

There was no domestic action in Bolivia due to the international break.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

CONMEBOL roundup 24 March 2011

Colombia

Once Caldas may be struggling in the Copa Libertadores but they are still top of the table and unbeaten in Colombia after a 2-0 win against bottom side Deportivo Pereira who have now gone an incredible 33 league games without a win.

Junior are in the opposite situaltion to Once Caldas, they have won four out of four in the Libertadores but have lost three in a row in the league, their latest defeat being a 3-0 thrashing by La Equidad.

Atlético Nacional are in second place five points behind Once Caldas after they won 3-0 win against Cúcuta Deportivo leapfrogging Itagüí Ditaires who lost 2-1 at Millonarios in a game that featured two cracking goals, this great curling effort from Cleider Alzáte to open the scoring and this spectacular individual effort from Jefferson Angulo to win the game.

The craziest game of the weekend was Envigado's 1-1 draw with Atlético Huila, which had four red cards, the home team finshed the game with only eight players.

Uruguay

Defensor Sporting continued their leadership of the division on sixteen points from seven games with a 2-0 win against Miramar Misiones, Fénix are two points behind in second after an impressive 2-4 away win at Racing.

Nacional are three points down in third place with a game in hand after a 3-0 win against Cerro and Peñarol are six points behind with two in hand after their game against bottom side River Plate was postponed due to their Copa Libertadores commitments.

Paraguay

The form team in Paraguay are Guaraní who have won three games back to back, and are nine points behind the leaders Olimpia with three games in hand. They played twice this week and beat Sol de América 2-0 and Rubio Ñú 2-1.

Olimpia dropped points for the second game in a row in a 0-0 draw away at Libertad. Leonardo Astrada's Cerro Porteño kept up the chase with three points but they made hard work of their 1-0 win against 10 man Sportivo Luqueño having to wait for an 87th minute winner from Luis Caceres.

Nacional also picked up three points to keep their championship hopes alive with a 0-2 away win against Tres de Febrero.

Venezuela

Zamora are the new leaders in Venezuela after they won 3-0 against Trujillanos and the previous leaders Anzoátegui lost 0-1 at home to Yaracuyanos. Caracas are four points down in third place with a game in hand but were not in action at the weekend due to Copa Libertadores commitments.

Peru

Cienciano lost ground in the Peruvian title race after a 1-0 away defeat at Sporting Cristal in which their Argentine manager Marcelo Trobbiani was sent off for entering the pitch after Cristal's Argentine manager Guillermo Rivero complained to the referee. Trobbiani faces a three game suspension after his angry reaction towards Rivero's interference.

The big story is the really poor displays of Peru's two Libertadores representatives. Reigning champions Universidad San Martín are in the relegation zone having failed to win any of their last four league games, their latest defeat was a 2-1 reversal at newly promoted Unión Commercial. The other Libertadores representatives León are not doing much better, they lost 1-3 at home to CNI and are only one point above the drop zone.

Bolivia

Oriente Petrolero may be the Copa Libertadores group two whipping boys but they are doing fine in their domestic league, a 0-1 away win at Guabirá keeps them three points clear at the top of the table.

Unlike last weekend five of the top six sides bagged wins. Bolívar won 1-2 at Real Mamoré, San José won 2-1 against Blooming, Nacional bagged a 0-1 away win at La Paz and The Strongest also got an away win, 0-1 at Aurora.

Chile

Colo-Colo's resurgance faltered at the weekend when their five game winning run was ended with a 1-1 home draw against Cobreloa.

Universidad Cátolica stayed at the top of the division after a 2-1 win against Santiago Morning and second placed Unión La Calera also won their game with a 3-1 home victory against Audax Italiano.

The most impressive performance of the round was La Sirena's 0-4 away win against Huachipato.

Ecuador

Deportivo Quito are still the leaders after a 3-2 win against Imbabura on Saturday, the newly promoted visitors dropped to the bottom of the table after this result but they can be reasonably proud to have given the league leaders a tough game and especially pleased with this excellent long range goal from Mauricio Follaco.

It is beginning to look like a three horse race for the title. Liga de Quito are in second place one point behind with a game in hand after they beat Liga de Loja 1-2 on Sunday and won 0-2 at Deportivo Cuenca in midweek. The third team are Emelec who are six points behind the leaders with two games in hand after they beat Independiente 3-1.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

CONMEBOL roundup: 15 March 2011

Colombia

Once Caldas may be struggling a bit in Copa Libertadores 2011 but they are racing away at the top of the Colombian league after hammering Deportes Quindío 5-1 with a hat-trick from Dayro Moreno. The second placed side are now newly promoted Itagüí Ditaires who beat América de Cali 1-0 and Atlético Nacional are in third position after a 1-3 away win against Atlético Huila.

There were a number of other interesting results too, Cúcuta Deportivo thrashed bottom of the table Deportivo Pereira 4-0, Boyacá Chicó won 3-0 at home against Real Cartagena, last year's runners-up Deportes Tolima lost their third game of the tournament in a 3-1 away defeat to Independiente and the only side left with a 100% record in the Copa Libertadores group stages Junior suffered a surprise 1-2 home defeat to Envigado who are now in fourth position.

Uruguay

Both of the sides that were slumped at the bottom of the table with no points at the beginning of the weekend managed to recored their first wins of the season. River Plate beat Danubio 3-1 and El Tanque Sisley won 1-0 against Central Español.

Defensor Sporting Club lead the way on 13 points despite only managing a 1-1 draw at Bella Vista. The two giants of Uruguayan football both won and both lie three points behind Defensor with a game in hand. Nacional won 0-2 at Liverpool and Peñarol won 0-2 at Cerro.

The surprise package of the first few rounds Tacurembó missed their chance to go top of the table after suffering a 1-0 away defeat to Miramar Misiones in the last fixture of the weekend.

Paraguay

It was a bad week for league leaders Olimpia who dropped their first points of the campaign in a midweek 0-0 draw away at Tacuary and then lost 1-3 at home against newly promoted Rubio Ñú on Sunday. Nery Pumpido's side were leading but former Paraguay international Roberto Acuña got the visitors back into the game with a quickly taken free kick.

Three was the magic number in the game between 3 de Febrero and Libertad, the visitors were leading 3-1 with three minutes to go but Nicolás Pavlovich of 3 de Febrero scored a couple of goals in the last three minutes to record a 3-3 draw. Libertad are nine points behind the leaders with three games in hand.

Second placed Nacional also slipped up only managing a 0-0 draw against a struggling Sportivo Luqueño side.

Cerro Porteño kept up their title chase too with a 2-3 away win at Sol de América, Argentine teenage sensation Juan Manuel Iturbe scored what turned out to be the decisive goal. Cerro are eleven points behind the leaders with three games in hand. Guaraní won their game too with a 0-1 away win against General Caballero to leave them fourteen points behind Olimpia with four games in hand.

Chile

Colo-Colo continued their recovery under new manager Américo Gallego with a 2-0 home win against second placed Unión Calera, their third win in a row in the league and their fourth consecutive win in all competitions. Lucás Wilchez scored the opening goal and then substitute José Fuenzalida scored the second only one minute after coming onto the pitch.

Leaders Universidad Cátolica got over their surprise midweek defeat to Caracas FC in Copa Libertadores  2011 to win 2-0 against Ñublense and take a three point lead at the top of the table.

O'Higgins are up to third position after an impressive 2-3 away win against Cobreloa and Palestino also bagged a 2-3 away win against La Serena to clamber off the bottom of the table. Deportes Iquique replaced Palestino at the bottom of the table but they only stayed there for one hour as they managed a 4-1 win against Santiago Wanderers.

Ecuador

Deportivo Quito have extended their lead at the top of the Primera División to four points with a midweek 3-1 win against Olmedo and a 0-1 away win against Barcelona Sporting Club on Sunday. Liga de Quito are still in second place after a 2-0 win against ESPOLI, they have two games in hand.

Deportivo Cuenca are in third place after a 0-1 at Manta, they remain one of only five top flight teams in South America to remain unbeaten in 2011, the others being Argentinos Juniors and Anzóategui of Venezuela and the Peruvian pair of Cobresol & Juan Aurich who have only actually played five games so far.

At the wrong end of the table newly promoted Imbabura climbed off the bottom of the table with a 3-2 win against LDU Loja, their first win of the season.

Peru

Alianza Lima still lead the way in Peru after a 0-2 win at Inti Gas and Ciencano kept up the chase with a convincing 4-0 demolition of Alianza Atlético.

Juan Aurich beat León 2-0 to keep their unbeaten record and Cobresol joined them as unbeaten with only nine points (won two drawn three) after a 2-2 draw with Sport Boys.

Both of Peru's Copa Libertadores representatives are struggling badly, León are down in eleventh place with six points from five games and reigning champions Universidad San Martín are in thirteenth place on five points from five games after losing 3-1 away at CNI.

Venezuela

Anzoátegui stayed top of the Venezuelan league with a 2-1 win against Real Esppor, the chasing pair both recorded handsome home wins. Second placed Zamora hammered Zulia 5-1 and third placed Caracas thumped Atlético Venezuela 4-0.

Deportivo Táchira's hard fought draw in Paraguay in midweek means that their game was postponed, they could jump up to fourth place with a win against rock bottom side Estudiantes de Merida on Wednesday.

Bolivia

Oriente Petrolero still lead the way in Bolivia after inflicting a humiliating 6-0 defeat on Bolívar who slipped down to third place on goal difference as a result. Mauricio Saucedo was the star of the show scoring the first four goals for the home team Jocelito Vaca and Alcides Peña bagged the other two goals. None of the other teams in the top seven managed to win allowing Blooming to climb up the table with a 0-3 away win against Gaubirá.

Aurora climbed into second position on goal difference despite losing 2-1 at Real Potosí. Real Mamoré climbed off the bottom of the table with a 2-0 win against Nacional, La Paz are now bottom of the table after losing 0-2 against Universitario and San José leapfrogged Nacional into fourth place despite only getting a 0-0 draw against The Strongest.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

CONMEBOL roundup: 9 March 2011

Colombia

         
Once Caldas are the stand alone leaders with 13 points from their five games after a 1-3 away win aginst Deportes Tolima, the team they beat in the final of the 2010 Clausura. Second place Deportes Quindío fell to their first defeat of the season losing 0-1 at home to Cucuta Deportivo.

Junior are having a great time in the 2011 Copa Libertadores, but back at home their league form is far from great. On Saturday they went down to a 4-1 defeat by Atlético Nacional in a game featuring several quality goals.

Deportivo Cali finally picked up their first points of the season with a 1-0 win against divisional new boys Itagüí Ditaire who still sit in third position. Deportivo Cali were replaced at the bottom of the table by Santa Fe who were beaten 3-1 by Envigado. Deportivo Cali will play another underacheiving side Millonarios next weekend who have climbed up into mid table after a 3-1 win against Boyacá Chicó.

Chile

Reigning champions Universidad Cátolica share the lead with Unión La Calera after seven games, both teams having 16 points. UC beat Palestino 1-2 on the road and Unión LC won their home game against Universidad de Concepción 2-0.

Universidad de Chile fell three points behind the leaders after losing 0-2 at home to Unión San Felipe.

Colo-Colo continued their recovery under new manager Américo Gallego with an impressive 1-2 away win against Unión Española all three of the goals were top quality efforts especially Cristobal Jorquera's fine finish for Colo-Colo's second goal.

Paraguay

Olimpia still lead the way in Paraguay with seven wins out of seven. Guaraní made it tough for Nery Pumpido's side but they prevailed 4-3 in a cracking game to keep their seven point advantage at the top of the table..

Nacional kept up the chase with a 2-0 win against Sol de América who now find themselves propping up the table in 12th place.

Libertad are in third place but have two games in hand on the leaders because of postponments due to their Copa Libertadores commitments. They battered Rubio Ñú 4-1 on Friday night.

Cerro Porteño are another side with games in hand and they managed to scratch out a 0-1 away win against Independiente with a late goal from teenage sensation Juan Manuel Iturbe to give Leonardo Astrada a winning debut as manager of the club.

Uruguay

The whipping boys of the Apertura Tacurembó have really found some form, they are joint top of the table after a 2-1 win against River Plate who remain pointless after five games and rock bottom of the table. Defensor Sporting Club are the other team at the top, they beat El Tanque Sisley 0-1 leaving the minnows joint bottom with no points from their opening three games.

The leaders going into round five were Central Español but they dropped points in a surprise 1-1 draw against Fénix.

The traditional giants of Uruguayan football Nacional and Peñarol both won their games and are far from out ofthe title race, both having a game in hand to play against El Tanque Sisley.

Ecuador

Liga de Quito slipped off the top of the table because their game with Emelec was postponed, they are only one point behind new leaders Deportivo Quito with that game in hand. The new leaders put in a real show of strength demolishing their hosts Independiente 1-6 to bolster their goal difference. Independiente actually took the lead in the fourth minute with a lightning counter attack, they were already 1-2 down when their goalkeeper Librado Azcona was sent off. Deportivo buried the penalty for a 1-3 half time lead. After twelve minutes of the second half their replacement goalkeeper was also sent off for a second bookable offence meaning that the home team had to play the remainder of the match with only eight outfield players and defender David Koob Hurtado playing as a makeshift goalkeeper.

The other side to put in a strong performance over the weekend were Barcelona Sporting Club who crushed bottom of the table ESPOLI 4-1.

Peru

 Alianza Lima overtook Cienciano at the top of the league with a 2-0 win. Cobresol are in third place after a 1-2 away win against Melgar and last year's runners up León recovered from their poor start to the season with a 2-0 win against Universitario.

Venezuela

There were only three games in Venezuela over the weekend and none of the top sides were in action.

Bolivia

There was no domestic football in Bolivia last week.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

CONMEBOL roundup: 28-02-11

Chile

There has been a lot of action in Chile this week, including a double round of league fixtures and two major managerial appointments.

Colo-Colo took their time to find a replacement for Diego "Despreocupado" Cagna after their dismal performance at the start of the season and they eventually selected veteran Argentine manager Américo Gallego, who is only the second manger ever to win the Argentine Primera División with three different teams (the only other being José Yudica). He got to see his new team crawl off the bottom of the table with their first win of the season a 0-3 away win against Palestino which featured this classy goal from Cristobal Jorquera.

The other major managerial appointment was Claudio Borghi as national team coach, yet another Argentine manager in a top position in Chilean football.

Back to the league and there is now a three way tie at the top.

Universidad de Chile recovered from a surprise 1-2 home defeat against Santiago Morning on Thursday to batter Universidad de Concepción 1-5.

Reigning champions Universidad Cátolica are also on 13 points after a 2-3 away win against O'Higgins in which their opponents contrived to waste two penalties, followed by a 1-1 draw with Santiago Wanderers.

The third team at the top are newly promoted Unión La Calera who beat a hapless La Sirena team 2-0 and then beat Cobreloa 0-1.

Colombia

There were some cracking games in the fourth round of the Colombian Apertura. Junior managed to get their season back on track with a 2-1 win against Deportivo Pereira. The spectacular winning goal was somewhat overshadowed by the controversial owl abuse from Pereira's Panamanian defender Luis Moreno.

Once Caldas stayed in first position with a 3-2 win against Real Cartagena. Independiente and Millonarios played out an entertaining 3-3 draw and Deportivo Cali find themselves bottom of the table and pointless after four games after losing 2-0 against Boyacá Chicó.

Paraguay

The big game in paraguay between Cerro Porteño and Olimpia  resulted in a 1-2 win for the visitors who now have a seven point lead at the top of the league and also in the sacking of Cerro Porteño manager Blas Cristaldo. Olimpia have the maximum eighteen points from their six games while Cerro are miles behind in seventh place with only five points from their four games.

Peru

After a disatrous 2010 Cienciano have started 2011 in good form as the only Peruvian team to manage three wins in the opening three games. Their latest win was a convincing 3-0 victory against Sport Boys, all three goals in the game were excellent, two long range strikes and an exquisite lob from Diego Bustamante.

The two runaway leaders in last year's competition and the Peruvian representatives in Copa Libertadores 2011 are both struggling. León climbed away from the bottom of the table with a 0-1 win against Universidad César Vallejo and Universidad San Martín are in mid table after a 1-0 away defeat to Universitario.

Ecuador

Liga de Quito are top of the Ecuadorian league after a 1-2 away win at El Nacional, Emelec are two points behind them with a game in hand which will be the Clásico del Astillero against Barcelona Sporting Club on Thursday 3 March.

Bolivia

Oriente Petrolero lost their second consecutive game 2-1 away defeat against Nacional, but their five wins in a row at the start of the campaign is enough to keep them joint top of the table on 15 points and with a game in hand on the other two.

Both of the chasing pair won their games by the odd goal in five to catch up with Oriente; Bolívar beat Guabirá 3-2 and Aurora beat La Paz by the same score.

Uruguay

The big story in Uruguay is that River Plate are still pointless and bottom of the table after a 1-4 capitulation against Racing Club in front of their own fans. Last year's fairytale side El Tanque Sisley are the only other team with no points but they have two games in hand having only played twice so far.

Central Español lead the way with 10 points from their four games after a 0-1 win against Miramar Misiones.

Venezuela

Zamora FC are the form team in Venezuela having won both their games last week with a 3-1 home win against Deportivo Lara and a 0-3 away win against Atlético El Vigía. They are now only two points behind top side Anzoátegui with a game in hand.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

CONMEBOL roundup, 15 February 2011

Chile

The major talking piont in Chile is the fact that 29 time champions Colo-Colo currently sit bottom of the league with only one point from their first three games. On Saturday they suffered one of the most embarrasing results in their history going down to a 1-5 home defeat against Universidad de Concepción.

Colombia

After two games of the Apertura 2011 the division is headed by the unlikely pair of Atlético Huila and Deportes Quindío who are the only two to have won both of their games, Huila recorded an impressive 3-0 win against Real Cartagena. The highest scoring of the weekend's games was América de Cali's 3-2 win against Deportivo Pereira.

Uruguay

After an astonishingly bad run of nine consecutive defeats at the back end of last season Tacurembó have pulled themselves together and are joint top of the division after two wins in the opening two rounds. Defensor Sporting Club are the only other side with a 100% record.

Central Español put in the performance of the weekend with a 1-5 away win against Cerro and the fairytale finally seems to be over for El Tanque Sisley who have lost both of their opening games.

Paraguay

After three games Libertad and Olimpia lead the way in Paraguay with maximum points. At the weekend Olimpia beat newly promoted side General Caballero 3-1 and Libertad hung on for a 2-1 win against Sportivo Luqueño.

Venezuela

Things are tight at the top of the Venezuelan Primera with Atlético El Vigía top of the table with 12 points from seven games and a host of other teams within three points of them all having played two games less. Yaracuyanos and Anzoategui are in prime position only one point behind the leaders.

Peru

The Peruvian season kicked off this weekend and Alianza Lima came out fighting with an impressive 4-1 win against Unión Commercial. The other outstanding performance of the opening round was Universidad Cesar Vallojo's 3-0 win against CNI.

Bolivia

Oriente Petrolero are the form team in Bolivia having won all of their first five games, nobody else in the division has managed to string together more than two consecutive wins. The highlight of their season so far was a 6-0 demolition of La Paz in the first round of games. At the weekend they won 2-1 against San José.

Ecuador

After three games the lead is shared between three teams on seven points, Deportivo Quito, Emelec and Deportivo Cuenca. The pick of the weekend's games was a 0-4 away win for El Nacional against Olmedo.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

CONMEBOL roundup: Final round-up December 2010

This is the last round up of events in 2010, for all final league standings, championship playoffs and liguillas for the 8 other nations in CONMEBOL.


For the final results in Argentina and Brazil follow the links below.

Argentina final standings

Brazil final standings

Bolivia

Action finished at the back end of November with Oriente Petrolero winning their 5th Bolivian league championship. The other  Copa Libertadores qualifiers are Jorge Wilstermann and Bolívar.

• Clausura league positions
• Relegation standings
• Top scorers

Chile

The Chilean championship concluded with Universidad Cátolica chasing down runaway leaders Colo-Colo to win their 10th Chilean league title. Both sides qualified for the  Copa Libertadores 2011. The other qualification place was determined by a qualification playoff (liguilla) which was won by Unión Española.

Everton and San Luis were relegated from the division but both of the sides that had to play in the relegation playoffs (Santiago Morning & Universidad de Concepción) won and kept their places in the top flight.

Liguilla

Semi-finals

08-12-10
Huachipato	2-1	Audax Italiano
12-12-10
Audax Italiano	2-0	Huachipato
Winner: Audax Italiano

09-12-10
Unión Española	0-0	Universidad de Chile
12-12-10
Universidad de Chile	1-4	Unión Española
Winner: Unión Española

Final

15-12-10
Unión Española	2-1	Audax Italiano
19-12-10
Audax Italiano	1-1	Unión Española
Winner: Unión Española

Relegation playoffs

12-12-10
Antofagasta	2-1	Santiago Morning
18-12-10
Santiago Morning	3-1 (aet)	Antofagasta
Winner: Santiago Morning

12-12-10
Curicó Unido	0-2	Universidad de Concepción
19-12-10
Universidad de Concepción	3-2	Curicó Unido
Winner: Universidad de Concepción

• Final league positions
• Top scorers

Colombia

In Colombia Once Caldas beat Deportes Tolima in the final of the Cluasura tournament to win their 4th league title, both sides qualified to the  Copa Libertadores 2011 along with Junior who were the winners of the Apertura tournament.

Final

15-12-10
Deportes Tolima	2-1	Once Caldas
19-12-10
Once Caldas	3-1	Deportes Tolima
Winner: Once Caldas

 Cortulua were automatically relegated and Envigado survived their relegation playoff against Deportivo Pasto.

Relegation playoff

12-12-10
Deportes Pasto	0-1	Envigado
15-12-10
Envigado	2-0	Deportes Pasto
Winner: Envigado

• Final league positions
• Relegation table
• Top scorers

Ecuador

The Ecuadorian final was contested between Liga de Quito and Emelec in a repeat of the 1998 final that LDU won 7-1 on aggregate. Liga won the 2010 version too but by the less grandiose scoreline of 2-1.

Deportivo Quito will join those too sides in the Copa Libertadores after an away goals win against Barcelona Sporting Club after a 3-3 aggregate draw.

Macará and Universidad Cátolica were relegated.

Final

05-12-10
Liga de Quito	2-0	Emelec
12-12-10
Emelec	1-0	Liga de Quito
Winner: Liga de Quito

3rd place playoff

04-12-10
Deportivo Quito	2-0	Barcelona Sporting Club
11-12-10
Barcelona Sporting Club	3-1	Deportivo Quito
Winner: Deportivo Quito

• 2nd stage league positions
• Relegation table
• Top scorers

Paraguay

Libertad won the Clausura tournament and join Guaraní in the Copa Libertadores, Cerro Porteño also qualify having accumulated the most points of the non championship winning sides.

• Clausura final standings
• International qualification
• Relegation table
• Top scorers

Peru

Universidad San Martín won their third Peruvian league title beating León de Huanuco in the final. The first leg of which was marred by a mass brawl. Tim Vickery wrote an interesting article about it on the BBC website.

Final

08-12-10
León	1-1	Universidad San Martín
12-12-10
Universidad San Martín	2-1	León
Winner: Universidad San Martín

• Final league positions
• Top scorers

Uruguay

Defensor Sporting Club won their third short tournament since 2008, finishing one point ahead of NacionalBella Vista and and two points ahead of massive overachievers El Tanque Sisley. After a dreadful run of results Tacurembo, (the only Primera División team from outside the capital Montevideo) will face a massive fight to stay in the division during the Clausura 2011 tournament.

• Final league positions
• Top scorers

Venezuela

 After leading for most of the season and then chucking it away in the last few games real Esppor came agonisingly close to winning their first league title finishing level on points with champions Deportivo Táchira but with a goal difference of +19 to Táchira's +20.

• Final league positions

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

Highlights: Pick of the rest 6 December 2010

Colombia

There were a couple of shock results in group A over the weekend, with the bottom two both keeping their faint title ambitions alive with home wins against the top two. Atlético Huila managed a 1-0 win against the leaders Santa Fe, their goal was an excellent turn and strike from Rafael Castillo after only three minutes. In the other game 3rd placed La Equidad beat Deportes Tolima 1-0.

In Group B Once Caldas continued their march towards the final with a 3-2 win against Atlético Nacional who are already out of it with two games still to play. In the other game 3rd placed Cúcuta Deportivo kept their feint hopes alive with a 1-0 win against 2nd placed Deportes Quindío.

Results

Group A
Atlético Huila 1-0 Santa Fe
La Equidad 1-0 Deportes Tolima

Group B 
Once Caldas 3-2 Atlético Nacional
Cúcuta Deportivo 1-0 Deportes Quindío


Group A table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Santa Fe	4	2	1	1	7	6	2	7
2	Deportes Tolima	4	1	2	1	6	6	0	5
3	La Equidad	4	1	2	1	3	4	-1	5
4	Atlético Huila	4	1	1	2	4	5	-1	4

Group B table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Once Caldas	4	3	1	0	9	4	4	10
2	Deportes Quindio	4	2	0	2	5	6	-1	6
3	Cucuta Deportivo	4	1	2	1	4	4	0	5
4	Atlético Nacional	4	0	1	3	6	10	-4	1

Chile

Universidad Cátolica claimed their 10 Chilean league title after a 5-0 win against Everton who suffered automatic relegation as a consequence. This championship represented a great acheivement for UC but an even bigger failure for Colo-Colo who let a seven point advantage at the top of the table evaporate in their last six games. Colo-Colo won their last game 4-2 against Universidad de Concepción and will take a little consolation from the fact that they have qualified to play in the 2011 Copa Libertadores.

Chile's 3rd Copa Libertadores place will be determined through a 4 team playoff "liguilla" between Audax Italiano, Universidad de Chile, Unión Española and Huachipato.

San Luis and Everton suffered automatic relegation while Universidad de Concepción and Santiago Morning will face relegation/promotion playoffs against teams from the 2nd division.

The final standings.

Uruguay

Defensor Sporting Club managed the win they needed to win the championship with a against a 1-3 away win against the hopeless Tacurembó side who were losing their 9th consecutive game. Nacional won 1-2 at Rampla Juniors to claim 2nd place, Bella Vista beat River Plate 1-0 to claim 3rd place and new boys El Tanque Sisley managed a 0-1 away win at Fénix to claim an impressive 4th place finish.

The final standings

Paraguay

Libertad are the Clausura 2010 champions after a convincing 5-0 win against Tres de Febrero. Cerro Porteño in second place could only manage a 1-1 draw away at Sport Colombia meaning that they finished three points behind the leaders but they do however still qualify for Copa Libertadores as the highest aggregate points scorers alongside Libertad and the Apertura winners Guaraní.

The three Copa Sudamericana places will go to Libertad as the highest placed champions, Nacional in 4th place overall and Olimpia in 5th place overall.

The two newly promoted sides at the start of the season; Sport Colombia and Sport Trinidense were both relegated.

The final standings

Venezuela

Real Esppor relinquished their long term lead at the top of the Primera División after a 2-0 away defeat to Deportivo Táchira who replace them at the top of the table with only one game of the season remaining.

Ecuador

Liga de Quito had home advantage in the first leg of the final against Emelec, there was no repeat of the 7-0 scoreline from the 1998 final between these two clubs, but a 2-0 advantage for the second leg is not bad.

In the 3rd place playoff that determines who will play in the Copa Libertadores, Deportivo Quito established a 2-0 lead against Barcelona Sporting Club.

Peru

With nearly everything already determined last week the only real issue was which team would be joining Total Chalaco in the second division next year. Two of the three relegation threatened teams faced each other and Cienciano ensured their safety with a 2-1 win against Alianza Atlético, however José Galvez could not take advantage failing to secure the win they needed, going down 2-0 away at Sporting Cristal.

To recap the rest, San Martín will play León in the two legged final, Alianza Lima will join those two in the Copa Libertadores next year and the three Copa Sudamericana 2011 places will go to Universitario, Universidad Cesár Vallejo and Juan Aurich.

The final standings.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

Pick of the rest: 30 November 2010

Colombia

The final stages of the Colombian championship are settling down, after 3 games 4 of the top five finishers in the league stage occupy the best positions, the only surptise is the fact that 4th placed finishers Atlético Nacional are bottom of their group with only one point from 3 games so far.

Santa Fe won their midweek game 3-1 against La Equidad, their 2nd goal from Cristian Nazarit was a cracking free kick and La Equidad's consolation goal was bagged by Jhon Viáfara. They also beat Atlético Huila 2-1 on Saturday with a last minute winner from Nazarit. Winners of the regular stage of the season Deportes Tolima are in 2nd after a 2-3 away win against Atlético Huila and a 1-1 draw at home against La Equidad.

In the other group Once Caldas lead the way after consecutive 1-3 away wins against Deportes Quindio and Atlético Nacional. Quindio played some good stuff midweek and were unlucky to lose but they bounced back on Sunday with a 2-1 against Cucuta Deportivo.

Results

Group A
Santa Fe 3-1 La Equidad
Atlético Hulia 2-3 Deportes Tolima
Santa Fe 2-1 Atlético Huila
Deportes Tolima 1-1 La Equidad

Group B 
 Deportes Quindio 1-3 Once Caldas
Cucuta Deportivo 2-2 Atlético Nacional
Deportes Quindio 2-1 Cucuta Deportivo
Atlético Nacional 1-3 Once Caldas


Group A table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Santa Fe	3	2	1	0	7	4	3	7
2	Deportes Tolima	3	1	2	0	6	5	1	6
3	Atlético Huila	3	0	2	1	2	4	-2	2
4	La Equidad	3	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

Group B table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Once Caldas	3	2	1	0	6	2	4	7
2	Deportes Quindio	3	2	0	1	5	5	0	6
3	Cucuta Deportivo	3	0	2	1	3	4	-1	2
4	Atlético Nacional	3	0	1	2	4	7	-3	1

Bolivia

Oriente Petrolero are the Bolivian champions for the 4th time in their history. they had virtually assured themselves of the championship with a 1-2 away win against Real Potosi on Thursday meaning that they only needed a point on Sunday to secure the championship. They got their point in a 1-1 draw against The Strongest, however 2nd placed Bolivar lost 2-0 at Blooming anyway, making the winning margin four points which disguises the fact that until the last couple of games this was a very close championship with four or five potential champions.

At the bottom of the table Jorge Wilstermann managed a surprise 1-0 win against 3rd placed Aurora to jump out of last place, leapfrogging Universitario who could only draw 1-1 with Real Mamore.

Final standings - here

Chile

Colo-Colo's spectacular capitulation at the top of the league is almost complete after they lost 2-1 away at O'Higgins and title rivals Universidad Cátolica won 2-3 at Cobreloa with a winner late in the game from Argentine midfielder Juan Eluchans. UC now have a three point advantage going into the last game of the season.

O'Higgins win against long time leaders Colo-Colo secured their safety from relegation and Palestino reached safety too with a 3-2 win against bottom of the table and already relegated San Luis. The remaining automatic relegation place will be filled by Everton, Santiago Morning or Ñublense and the two playoff positions will be filled by the remaining two unless Santiago Morning or Ñublense can leapfrog Universidad de Concepcion or Cobreloa to safety,

The league table after round 33.

Uruguay

Nacional spoiled Defensor Sporting Club's coronation as champions by beating them 1-2, setting up an incredible finale to the season in which any one of five teams could win the championship. Defensor still lead the way on 27 points, Nacional are joint 2nd on 26 with Bella Vista who won 2-4 away at Cerro. Behind those two on 25 points are Peñarol who beat Central Español 2-3 and El Tanque Sisley who won 0-1 at Miramar Misiones.

Defensor Sporting Club are still overwhelming favourites with one game remaining, they are at the top of the league and face Tacurembo who are bottom of the table with only five points and have lost 8 games in a row.

Paraguay

Both of the leaders won in Paraguay, Libertad beat Sol de America 3-0 and 2nd placed Cerro Porteño beat Apertura champions Guarani 1-2 to keep their title ambitions alive.

The last round of fixtures sees Libertad face Tres de Febrero at home and Cerro Porteño travel to Sport Colombia.

The league table after round 21.

Venezuela

The gap at the top of the Venezuelan Primera has been reduced to only one point with two games each remaining after leaders Real Esppor cound only draw 1-1 with Trujillanos after 2nd placed Deportivo Tachira had won 0-1 away at Aragua.

At the bottom end of the table Deportivo Lara moved up a few places after hammering bottom of the table Caroni 4-0.

Peru

With only one round left in Peru nearly everything is decided, Universidad San martin will play Len de Huanuco in the two legged final, both sides qualify for the group stages of Copa Libertadores 2011, they will be joined by Alianza Lima assuming they win their first round qualifier.

Universitario de Deportes will play in the 2nd round of Copa Sudamericana 2011 and the two teams qualifying to the first round are Juan Aurich and Universidad Cesar Vallejo.

Total Chalaco are already relegated and the only open question is who will join them in the other relegation spot out of Jose Galvez, Alianza Atletico and Cienciano.

The penultimate round of action threw up some odd results by far the strongest team in the division Universidad San Martin were beaten 1-2 at home by the worst side Total Chalaco. One time Copa Sudamericana champions Cienciano gave themselves a great chance of survival after a 2-3 win away at Juan Aurich and Jose Galvez slipped into the automatic relegation zone after a disastrous 2-6 home defeat to Colegio Nacional Iquitos.

Peruvian league standings after the weekend's action.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.