2003 in Paraguayan football

none The following article presents a summary of the 2003 football (soccer) season in Paraguay. First division results Torneo Apertura The Apertura tournament was played in a single all-play-all system. At the end, the top six teams qualified to a playoff stage to determine the Apertura champion. PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededPoints1Libertad 9630133212Cerro Porteño 9531208183Olimpia 94411611164Sol de América 9342127135Tacuary94141516136Guaraní 93331820127Sportivo Luqueño 93241412118Sport Colombia 922514208912 de Octubre9144818710San Lorenzo910810253 Apertura playoff stage The top six teams qualified to this stage and were divided into two groups. The top two teams in the Apertura points table (Libertad and Cerro Porteño) were given two bonus points to start the group stage. Group stage Teams qualified to the Final Group A PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededBonus PointsPoints1Libertad 211020[2]62Tacuary 211020[0]43Olimpia 200204[0]0 Group B PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededBonus PointsPoints1Guaraní 220031[0]62Sol de América 210143[0]33Cerro Porteño 200236[2]2 Apertura Final May 18, 2003 Guaraní 0–0 Libertad December 14, 2007 Libertad 1–0 Guaraní Libertad wins the Apertura tournament final by an aggregate score of 1-0. Torneo Clausura The Clausura tournament was played in a two-round all-play-all system, with the champion being the team with the most points at the end of the two rounds. PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededPoints1Libertad*189633220332Olimpia189633018333Cerro Porteño 189542415324Guaraní 187652417275Sportivo Luqueño187652120276Sol de América 18477171619712 de Octubre18477714198San Lorenzo184681832189Tacuary1845920291710Sport Colombia184410222916 *Since Olimpia and Libertad tied in points and goal difference at the end of the Clausura, a championship game playoff was played on November 30, with Libertad winning 6-5 in penalties after a 0-0 tie in regulation. Championship game playoff Since Libertad won both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments they were declared as the national champions and no playoff game was played. Runners-up game playoff Two games were played to determine the 2003 championship runners-up between Olimpia and Guaraní, who finished in second place in the Clausura and Apertura respectively. The winner of this playoff was guaranteed a spot in the 2003 Copa Libertadores. November 2, 2003 Olimpia 1–1 Guaraní November 5, 2003 Guaraní 3–2 Olimpia Guaraní runners-up of the 2003 first division tournament by winning on an aggregate score of 4-3. Relegation / Promotion San Lorenzo automatically relegated to the second division after finishing last in the average points table based over a three-year period. Tacuary finished second-to-last in the aggregate points table, so had to participate in the promotion play-off game against second division runners-up 3 de Febrero. Tacuary won the playoff game by an aggregate score of 4-2, so it remains in the first division. Club Nacional promoted to the first division by winning the second division tournament. Qualification to international competitions Libertad qualified to the 2004 Copa Libertadores by winning the Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura. Guaraní qualified to the 2004 Copa Libertadores by finishing as runners-up of the 2003 season. A four team playoff was played to determine the 3rd participant in the 2004 Copa Libertadores. Olimpia entered the playoff with one bonus point because it finished second in the Clausura tournament. Pre-Libertadores playoff PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededBonus PointsPoints1Olimpia 321041[1]82Sportivo Luqueño 320184[0]63Cerro Porteño 310247[0]34Sol de America 301259[0]1 Olimpia qualifies to the 2004 Copa Libertadores by winning the Pre-Libertadores tournament. Lower divisions results LevelTournamentChampion2ndIntermedia Nacional3rd (G.A. teams)Primera de AscensoFernando de la Mora3rd (interior teams)UFI Champions CupClub 2 de Mayo (Pedro Juan Caballero)4th (G.A. teams)Segunda de AscensoSportivo Ameliano Paraguayan teams in international competitions Copa Libertadores 2003: Olimpia: round of 16 Cerro Porteño: round of 16 Libertad: group-stage 12 de Octubre: group-stage Recopa Sudamericana 2003: Olimpia: Champions Copa Sudamericana 2003: Libertad: quarterfinals Guaraní: preliminary first round Paraguay national team The following table lists all the games played by the Paraguay national football team in official competitions during 2003. DateVenueOpponentsScoreCompParaguay scorersReport September 6, 2003 Estadio NacionalLima, Peru PER 4 - 1 WCQ 2006 Gamarra 24 Report September 10, 2003 Defensores del ChacoAsunción, Paraguay URU 4 - 1 WCQ 2006 Cardozo 26, 58, 72 Paredes 53 Report November 15, 2003 Defensores del ChacoAsunción, Paraguay ECU 2 - 1 WCQ 2006 Santa Cruz 29 Cardozo 75 Report November 18, 2003 Estadio Nacional Santiago, Chile CHI 0 - 1 WCQ 2006 Paredes 30Report References Paraguay 2003 by Eli Schmerler and Juan Pablo Andrés at RSSSF Diario ABC Color Category:Seasons in Paraguayan football