2011–12 Costa Rican Primera División season

2011–12 Campeonato Nacional de Costa Rica
Season	2011–12
Champions	Alajuelense (2011 Invierno); Herediano (2012 Verano)
Relegated	TBD
Champions League	Alajuelense; Herediano
Matches played	116
Goals scored	321 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorer	Invierno:; Randall Brenes (13); Verano:; TBD
Biggest home win	Invierno: Pérez Zeledón 7–1 Puntarenas
Biggest away win	Invierno: San Carlos 0–4 Herediano
Highest scoring	Invierno: Herediano 6–3 Cartaginés
	← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 Primera División season is the 93rd of Costa Rica's top-flight professional football league. The season was divided into two championships: the Invierno and the Verano. The season began on 31 July 2011.

Promotion and relegation[]

Universidad de Costa Rica finished last season in last place in the overall table at the end of last season and were relegated to the Segunda División. Replacing them in the league for this season are the overall champions of last season's Segunda División competition, Belén Siglo XXI.

Barrio México were expelled from last year's competition during the 2011 Verano tournament and were eventually relegated from the league due to various financial difficulties.^[1] They were not replaced for this season.

For this season, Brujas changed their name to Orión FC Desamparados.^[2]

Format changes[]

Due to the reduction of the league to 11 teams for this season, the league's format was changed for this season. There would be no groups this season. Instead, for both tournaments, the clubs would play every other club twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 20 matches each. At the end of the regular season, the top 4 teams in the league standings would participate in the playoffs. At the end of the season, the last place club would participate in a promotion-relegation playoff against the Segunda División overall runners-up, while the Segunda División overall champions would be promoted to next season's competition automatically.^[3]

Average attendance[]

Saprissa 14,990
Alajuelense 9,720
Herediano 4,064
Limón 3,220
Cartaginés 3,090
Santos de Guápiles 2,058
San Carlos 2,109
Puntarenas 2,027
Pérez Zeledón 1,119
Belén 1,117
544

Team information[]

Team	Manager	City	Stadium	Capacity
LD Alajuelense	Oscar "El Machillo" Ramírez	Alajuela	Alejandro Morera Soto	17,895
Belén Siglo XXI		Belén		3,000
C.S. Cartaginés		Cartago	Fello Meza	13,500
CS Herediano	Jafet Soto	Heredia	Rosabal Cordero	8,144
Limón F.C.		Limón	/	3,000/2,000
Orión F.C.		Tarrazú		1,500
Municipal Pérez Zeledón	Mauricio Wright		Municipal	6,000
Puntarenas FC		Puntarenas	"Lito" Pérez	4,105
Asociación Deportiva San Carlos		Ciudad Quesada	Carlos Álvarez	5,600
Santos de Guápiles		Guápiles	Ebal Rodríguez	3,000
Deportivo Saprissa	Alexander Guimaraes	Tibás	Ricardo Saprissa	23,000

Campeonato de Invierno[]

The 2011 Campeonato de Invierno, officially the 2011 Campeonato de Invierno Scotiabank for sponsorship reasons, was the first tournament of the season. The tournament began on 31 July 2011 and ended on 18 December 2011.

First stage[]

Standings[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Herediano	20	11	6	3	39	19	+20	39	Advances to the Semifinals
2	Alajuelense	20	11	4	5	38	23	+15	37
3	Deportivo Saprissa	20	9	8	3	34	21	+13	35
4	Cartaginés	20	7	9	4	31	27	+4	30
5	Puntarenas	20	7	7	6	27	34	−7	28
6	Pérez Zeledón	20	7	5	8	31	30	+1	26
7	Santos	20	6	7	7	26	27	−1	25
8	San Carlos	20	5	6	9	22	33	−11	21
9	Belén	20	4	7	9	21	30	−9	19
10	Limón	20	5	4	11	19	30	−11	19
11	Orión	20	4	5	11	20	34	−14	17

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results[]

Home \ Away	ALA	BEL	CAR	HER	LIM	ORI	PEZ	PUN	SAC	SAN	SAP
Alajuelense		1–0	4–0	2–2	0–2	4–2	4–0	0–1	3–1	0–2	1–1
Belén	1–2		1–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	1–3	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–1
Cartaginés	2–0	3–2		3–1	3–0	3–1	2–2	3–0	0–0	1–1	2–1
Herediano	4–0	1–1	6–3		1–1	1–0	2–1	3–1	5–0	1–0	1–1
Limón	0–2	2–1	1–1	1–2		3–2	1–0	3–3	0–1	0–2	0–2
Orión	1–1	3–1	0–0	0–1	1–0		0–1	0–0	1–0	1–3	1–4
Pérez Zeledón	1–3	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	5–1		7–1	1–0	2–1	2–2
Puntarenas	1–3	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	3–2		2–0	2–2	3–3
San Carlos	0–3	4–0	1–1	0–4	2–1	2–2	3–0	0–0		3–1	1–4
Santos	0–3	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	1–1	3–0	2–2		3–2
Deportivo Saprissa	2–2	0–0	3–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–0

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second stage[]

Semifinals					Finals

1	Herediano	2	1	3

4	Cartaginés	1	0	1
					Herediano	1	1 (5)	2

					Alajuelense	1	1 (6)	2
2	Alajuelense	1	2	3

3	Saprissa	0	2	2

Semifinals[]

First legs[]

27 November 2011

11:00 UTC-6

Cartaginés	1–2	Herediano
Brenes 4'		Vargas 18' Cordero 39'

Estadio José Rafael Fello Meza Ivankovich, Cartago

27 November 2011

16:00 UTC-6

Saprissa	0–1	Alajuelense
		Alpizar 71'

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, de Tibás

Second legs[]

4 December 2011

22:00 UTC-6

Herediano	1–0	Cartaginés
Vargas 37'

Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero, Heredia

4 December 2011

12:30 UTC-6

Alajuelense	2–2	Saprissa
Alpizar 37' Fernández 90'		Ortiz 39' Martínez 50'

Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela

Finals[]

First leg[]

11 December 2011

12:00 UTC-6

Alajuelense	1–1	Herediano
Alpízar 33'		Cordero 46'

Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela

Second leg[]

18 December 2011

22:00 UTC-6

Herediano	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Alajuelense
Cordero 73'		Sarvas 56'
Penalties
	5–6

Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero, Heredia

2–2 on aggregate score, Alajuelense wins on penalties 6–5

Campeonato de Invierno Scotiabank Champion
Alajuelense 27th title

Top goalscorers[]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Randall Brenes	Cartaginés	13
2	Jairo Arrieta	Saprissa	12
4	José Luis Cordero	Herediano	12
5	Victor Núñez	Herediano	9
6		Puntarenas	8
6		Herediano	8
7	Jonathan McDonald	Alajuelense	7
		San Carlos	7
		Santos	7
8		Limón	6
	Alejandro Alpízar	Alajuelense	6
		Pérez Zeledón	6
	Josué Martínez	Saprissa	6
9	José Cancela	Herediano	5
	Álvaro Sánchez	San Carlos	5
	Diego Joaquín País	San Carlos	5

Campeonato de Verano[]

The 2012 Campeonato de Verano began on 15 January 2012 and ended in May 2012.

First stage[]

Standings[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Pérez Zeledón	20	11	4	5	38	25	+13	37	Advances to the Semifinals
2	Santos	20	12	1	7	32	28	+4	37
3	Deportivo Saprissa	20	10	6	4	38	23	+15	36
4	Herediano	20	10	4	6	33	20	+13	34
5	Alajuelense	20	10	3	7	34	25	+9	33
6	Cartaginés	20	10	3	7	33	30	+3	33
7	San Carlos	20	8	5	7	23	25	−2	29
8	Belén	20	7	7	6	35	28	+7	28
9	Puntarenas	20	5	3	12	23	35	−12	18
10	Limón	20	4	4	12	18	37	−19	16
11	Orión	20	2	2	16	12	42	−30	8

Updated to match(es) played on 24 April 2012. Source: Posiciones – Unafut.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results[]

Home \ Away	ALA	BEL	CAR	HER	LIM	ORI	PEZ	PUN	SAC	SAN	SAP
Alajuelense		1–1	0–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–2	2–0	1–2
Belén	4–2		1–0	3–3	7–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–4
Cartaginés	2–2	3–2		2–1	3–0	2–0	0–2	3–2	0–0	5–1	1–3
Herediano	2–3	2–1	3–0		3–2	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–2	0–0
Limón	0–2	0–0	1–0	0–2		3–2	2–2	2–0	0–1	1–2	1–1
Orión	0–2	2–2	0–1	0–2	1–0		1–3	2–1	1–1	0–3	1–5
Pérez Zeledón	2–4	2–1	2–3	0–0	1–0	4–1		3–2	2–0	3–1	1–0
Puntarenas	1–0	4–1	2–2	1–2	3–1	2–1	0–3		0–0	0–2	1–1
San Carlos	3–1	0–3	1–3	1–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	2–1		1–3	3–4
Santos	3–1	2–0	3–2	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–2	1–3		0–1
Deportivo Saprissa	0–2	0–0	4–0	1–3	2–2	1–0	2–3	3–1	1–1	3–0

Updated to match(es) played on 23 April 2012. Source: Resultados – Unafut.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second stage[]

Semifinals					Finals

1	Pérez Zeledón	1	0	1

4	Herediano	1	2	3
					Herediano	4	2	6

					Santos	2	1	3
2	Santos	0	1	1

3	Saprissa	1	0	1

Semifinals[]

First legs[]

28 April 2012

20:00 UTC-6

Herediano	1–1	Pérez Zeledón
4'		Wong 69'

Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero

Referee:

29 April 2012

11:00 UTC-6

Saprissa	1–0	Santos
Escoe 4' (penalty)

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá

Second legs[]

5 May 2012

20:00 UTC-6

Santos	1–0	Saprissa
Lagos 30'

Estadio Ebal Rodríguez

6 May 2012

11:00 UTC-6

Pérez Zeledón	0–2	Herediano
		Núñez 65' 80'

Estadio Municipal Pérez Zeledón

Referee: Rafael Vega

Finals[]

First leg[]

12 May 2012

20:00 UTC-6

Herediano	4–2	Santos
Cubero 47' Núñez 71' 87' Cancela 77'		Rodríguez 24' 51'

Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero

Referee: Walter Quesada

Second leg[]

19 May 2012

19:00 UTC-6

Santos	1–2	Herediano
Lagos 36'		Cancela 44' Núñez 92'

Estadio Ebal Rodríguez

Campeonato de Verano Scotiabank Champion
Herediano 22nd title

Aggregate table[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Herediano	40	21	10	9	72	39	+33	73	Qualification for 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage
2	Deportivo Saprissa	40	19	14	7	72	44	+28	71
3	Alajuelense	40	21	7	12	72	48	+24	70	Qualification for 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage
4	Pérez Zeledón	40	18	9	13	68	54	+14	63
5	Cartaginés	40	17	12	11	64	57	+7	63
6	Santos	40	18	8	14	58	55	+3	62
7	San Carlos	40	13	11	16	45	59	−14	50
8	Belén	40	11	14	15	55	57	−2	47
9	Puntarenas	40	12	10	18	50	69	−19	46
10	Limón	40	9	8	23	37	67	−30	35
11	Orión	40	6	7	27	32	76	−44	25	Promotion-relegation playoff

Updated to match(es) played on 24 April 2012. Source: Posiciones – Unafut.com (Tabla de posiciones General Acumulada 2011–2012)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

References[]

^ Herrera, Juan José. "Asamblea de la Unafut expulsó a Barrio México". La Nación. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
^ "Orión FC Desamparados". UNAFUT. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
^ Molina Salas, José Pablo. "Asamblea de Unafut acordó cambios en el formato de los próximos torneos". UNAFUT. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.

External links[]

UNAFUT's official website (in Spanish)

[1] Herrera, Juan José. "Asamblea de la Unafut expulsó a Barrio México". La Nación. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.

[2] "Orión FC Desamparados". UNAFUT. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.

[3] Molina Salas, José Pablo. "Asamblea de Unafut acordó cambios en el formato de los próximos torneos". UNAFUT. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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