# Primera División de Fútbol Profesional – Apertura 2012

The Apertura 2012 season (officially known as Torneo Apertura 2012 or also known as the Copa Capri for sponsoring reasons) was the 29th edition of El Salvador's Primera División since its establishment of an Apertura and Clausura format. C.D. Águila headed into this tournament as the defending champions. The season began on 14 July 2012 and concluded in the end of the year. Like previous years, the league consisted of 10 teams, each playing a home and away game against the other clubs for a total of 18 games, respectively. The top four teams by the end of the regular season took part in the playoffs.

## Team information

A total of 10 teams will contest the league, including 9 sides from Apertura 2011 and Clausura 2012 and one promoted from the 2011–12 Segunda División.
Vista Hermosa were relegated to 2012–13 Segunda División the previous season.
The relegated team were replaced by 2011–12 Segunda División Playoffs promotion. Santa Tecla won the Clausura 2012 title, this led to take part of the promotion playoffs alone the Apertura 2011 champions side Titán. Santa Tecla won the playoffs by the score of 2–1 .

### Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño as of June 6, 2012.
* Champions: Santa Tecla F.C.
Relegated to Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño as of June 6, 2012.
* Last Place: Vista Hermosa

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
| Águila | San Miguel | Juan Francisco Barraza | 10,000 |
| Alianza | San Salvador | Estadio Cuscatlán | 45,925 |
| Atlético Marte | San Salvador | Estadio Cuscatlán | 45,925 |
| FAS | Santa Ana | Estadio Óscar Quiteño | 15,000 |
| Isidro Metapán | Metapán | Estadio Jorge Calero Suárez | 8,000 |
| Juventud Independiente | San Juan Opico | Complejo Municipal | 5,000 |
| Luís Ángel Firpo | Usulután | Estadio Sergio Torres | 5,000 |
| Once Municipal | Ahuachapán | Estadio Simeón Magaña | 5,000 |
| Santa Tecla | Santa Tecla | Estadio Las Delicias | 10,000 |
| UES | San Salvador | Estadio Universitario UES | 10,000 |

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Águila | Julio Sosa | Victor Coreas | Diadora | Mister Donut, Volkswagen, Impressa Repuestos, Soccerway |
| Alianza | Lisandro Pohl | Ramiro Cepeda | Lotto | Tigo, SINAI, Maseca |
| Atlético Marte | Hugo Carrillo | Jorge Alberto García | Galaxia | Rosvill, Foskrol, La Curaçao, UFG, Vive |
| FAS | Rafael Villacorta | Agustín Castillo | Mitre | Pepsi, Farmacia San Lorenzo, Alba Petróleos, Continental Motor |
| Isidro Metapán | Rafael Morataya | Edwin Portillo | Milán (Jaguar Sportic) | Grupo Bimbo, Tigo, Arroz San Pedro, Holan |
| Juventud Independiente | Romeo Barillas | Juan Ramón Sánchez | Milán (Jaguar Sportic) | Alcaldía Municipal de San Juan Opico, Ria, CP Portillo |
| Luis Ángel Firpo | Enrique Escobar | Edgar Henriquez "Kiko" | Joma | Pilsener, Volkswagen, Diana, Tigo |
| Once Municipal | Oswaldo Magaña | Juan Andres Sarulyte | Milan (Jaguar Sportic) | LA GEO, Milan (Jaguar Sportic), Tropigas |
| Santa Tecla | Óscar Ortiz | Guillermo Rivera | Galaxia | Mister Donut |
| UES | Rufino Quesada | Jorge Abrego | Galaxia | Alba Petróleos |

## Managerial changes
### Before the start of the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Alianza F.C. | Juan Ramón Paredes | Sacked | 14 April 2012 | Ramiro Cepeda | 4 May 2012 | 9th (Clausura 2012) |
| Once Municipal | Juan Andrés Sarulyte | Resigned to become assistant coach of the national team | 23 April 2012 | Leonel Cárcamo | 4 June 2012 | 4th (Clausura 2012) |
| Luis Ángel Firpo | Nelso Ancheta | Sacked | 14 May 2012 | Edgar Henriquez "Kiko" | 4 June 2012 | 3rd (Clausura 2012) |
| Santa Tecla F.C. | Edgar Henriquez "Kiko" | Resigned to be coach of Firpo | 4 June 2012 | Osvaldo Escudero "El Pichi" | 7 June 2012 | Promoted from the second division |

### During the regular season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Once Municipal | Leonel Cárcamo | Fired | August 15, 2012 | Juan Andres Sarulyte | August 15, 2012 | 10th (Clausura 2012) |
| Santa Tecla F.C. | Osvaldo Escudero "El Pichi" | Resigned | October 30, 2012 | Guillermo Rivera | October 31, 2012 | 8th (Clausura 2012) |
| C.D. Universidad de El Salvador | Roberto Gamarra | Resigned | November 1, 2012 | Jorge Abrego | November 1, 2012 | 9th (Clausura 2012) |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Isidro Metapán | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 36 | Qualification for playoffs |
| 2 | Alianza | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 19 | +17 | 34 | Qualification for playoffs |
| 3 | FAS | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 27 | 15 | +12 | 33 | Qualification for playoffs |
| 4 | Águila | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 29 | 19 | +10 | 31 | Qualification for playoffs |
| 5 | Luis Ángel Firpo | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 25 | |
| 6 | Atlético Marte | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 28 | 25 | +3 | 23 | |
| 7 | Santa Tecla | 18 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 24 | 33 | −9 | 21 | |
| 8 | UES | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 26 | −6 | 20 | |
| 9 | Juventud Independiente | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 19 | |
| 10 | Once Municipal | 18 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 16 | 50 | −34 | 5 | |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ÁGU | ALI | ATM | FAS | FIR | MET | JUV | OMU | STE | UES |
| Águila | | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Alianza | 0–2 | | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 7–1 | 1–1 |
| Atlético Marte | 0–1 | 0–2 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 5–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| C.D. FAS | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 |
| Luis Ángel Firpo | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | | 4–2 | 2–3 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 |
| Isidro Metapán | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Juventud Independiente | 2–2 | 0–3 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | | 3–3 | 5–1 | 1–1 |
| Once Municipal | 0–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| Santa Tecla | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | | 3–0 |
| C.D. Universidad de El Salvador | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | |

## Playoffs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Isidro Metapán | 2 | 3 | 5 | | | |
| 4 | Águila | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Águila | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | Isidro Metapán (P) | 1 (5) |
| | | | | | 2 | Alianza | 1 (4) |
| 2 | Alianza | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Alianza | 1 (4) |
| 3 | FAS | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | |

### Semi-finals
#### Second leg

Isidro Metapán won 5-3 on aggregate.
1-1 on aggregate. Alianza advanced due it to better position on the table.

### Final

Isidro Metapán: :
| GK | 24 | Fidel Mondragón |
| DF | 8 | Luis Perla | 13' 90' |
| DF | 2 | Milton Molina |
| DF | 5 | Ernesto Aquino |
| DF | 15 | Alfredo Pacheco |
| MF | 10 | Paolo Suárez | 69' |
| MF | 20 | Héctor Mejía | 90' |
| MF | 16 | Ramón Sánchez | 56' |
| MF | 41 | José Peraza | 46' |
| FW | 11 | Christian Bautista | 73' |
| FW | 22 | Nicolás Muñoz | 106' |
| Substitutes: ||
| MF | 14 | Eliseo Quintanilla | 46' |
| FW | 9 | Jorge Ramírez | 73' |
| FW | 6 | Julio Martínez | 90' |
| Manager: |||
| Edwin Portillo ||||
Alianza: :
| GK | 1 | Miguel Montes |
| DF | 15 | Danny Torres | 38' |
| DF | 21 | Jonathan Barrios | 66' 90' |
| DF | 6 | Ramón Martínez |
| DF | 4 | Carlos Arévalo |
| MF | 7 | Rudy Valencia |
| MF | 16 | Roberto Maradiaga | 21' |
| MF | 13 | Elman Rivas | 39' 72' |
| MF | 12 | Christian Castillo |
| FW | 22 | Rodolfo Zelaya | 97' |
| FW | 9 | Sean Fraser | 32' 110' |
| Substitutes: ||
| MF | 20 | Arturo Albarrán | 21' |
| MF | 26 | Emerson Véliz | 72' |
| MF | 10 | Josué Flores | 97' 105' |
| Manager: |||
| Ramiro Cepeda ||||
* Apertura 2012 champions
* Isidro Metapán 7th title

## Player statistics
### Goalkeepers

| Goalkeeper | Goals | Matches | Average | Team |
| Luis Contreras | 10 | 14 | 0.71 | FAS |
| Miguel Montes | 16 | 17 | 0.94 | Alianza |
| Benji Villalobos | 16 | 15 | 1.07 | Águila |
| Javier Gómez | 19 | 14 | 1.36 | Atlético Marte |
| Fidel Mondragón | 25 | 17 | 1.47 | Isidro Metapán |
| Derby Carrillo | 23 | 15 | 1.53 | Santa Tecla |
| Dagoberto Portillo | 19 | 12 | 1.58 | Luis Ángel Firpo |
| Juan José Gómez | 19 | 12 | 1.58 | UES |
| Jassir Deras | 19 | 12 | 1.58 | Juventud Independiente |
| Julio Martínez | 27 | 10 | 2.70 | Once Municipal |

### Bookings

| Rank | Team | | | Total |
| 1 | L.Á. Firpo | 42 | 2 | 44 |
| 1 | Once Municipal | 41 | 3 | 44 |
| 3 | FAS | 45 | 3 | 48 |
| 3 | Alianza | 45 | 3 | 48 |
| 5 | Águila | 48 | 1 | 49 |
| 5 | Santa Tecla | 45 | 4 | 49 |
| 7 | Isidro Metapán | 48 | 4 | 52 |
| 8 | Juventud Independiente | 47 | 9 | 56 |
| 8 | UES | 55 | 1 | 56 |
| 10 | Atlético Marte | 64 | 4 | 68 |
| | Total | 480 | 33 | 513 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Anel Canales | Luis Ángel Firpo | Once Municipal | 1–3 | November 12, 2012 |

### Individual awards

| Hombre GOL | Best Coach Award | Best Goalkeeper Award | Fair Player Award | Rookie Player Award |
| Nicolás Muñoz Isidro Metapán Sean Fraser Alianza | Edwin Portillo Isidro Metapán | Luis Contreras FAS | César Larios Atlético Marte | Melvin Orantes Once Municipal |

### Season statistics
#### Scoring

* First goal of the season: William Bonilla for Santa Tecla against Isidro Metapán, 2 minutes (14 July 2012)
* Fastest goal in a match: 25 seconds – Hugo Montes for Atlético Marte against Once Municipal (7 November 2012)
* Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+4, Benji Villalobos for Águila against Isidro Metapán (15 September 2012)
* First penalty Kick of the season: Carlos Escudero for Santa Tecla against Isidro Metapán, 74 minutes (14 July 2012)
* Widest winning margin: 6 goals
** Alianza 7–1 Santa Tecla (22 July 2012)
* First hat-trick of the season: Anel Canales for Luis Ángel Firpo against Once Municipal (12 November 2012)
* First own goal of the season: Juan Granados (Independiente) for FAS (21 October 2012)
* Most goals by one team in a match: 7 Goals
** Alianza 7–1 Santa Tecla (22 July 2012)
* Most goals in one half by one team: 5 Goals
** Alianza 7–1 Santa Tecla (22 July 2012)
* Most goals scored by losing team: 3 Goals
** Juventud Independiente 4–3 Atlético Marte (5 August 2012)
* Most goals by one player in a single match: 3 Goals
** Anel Canales for Luis Ángel Firpo against Once Municipal (12 November 2012)

#### Discipline

* First yellow card of the season: Fabricio Alfaro for Santa Tecla against Isidro Metapán, 37 minutes (14 July 2012)
* First red card of the season: José Alvarado for Isidro Metapán against Santa Tecla, 72 minutes (14 July 2012)
* Card given at latest point in a game:Yellow Dennis Alas for Luis Ángel Firpo against Isidro Metapán, 90+4 minutes (4 August 2012)

## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in Apertura 2012. 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 a few season ago, 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.