# 2017–18 Liga FPD – Apertura season

The 2018 Apertura season served as the opening half of the 2017–18 Liga FPD association football season. It began on 29 July 2017 and ended on 23 December 2017.
Herediano entered as the defending champions, but lost the title in the Apertura finals to Pérez Zeledón.

## Personnel and kits

| Team | Chairman | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Alajuelense | Fernando Ocampo | Wílmer López | Patrick Pemberton | Puma | Toyota, Claro, Volaris |
| Carmelita | Isidro Zamora | Mario Víquez | Carlos Acosta | Sportek | Great Wall Motors, Universidad Santa Lucía |
| Cartaginés | Luis Vargas | Adrián Leandro | Danny Fonseca | Joma | Bancrédito, Premium, TWO |
| Grecia | Dagoberto Matamoros | Walter Centeno | Daniel Vallejos | ProSport | ROES, Super Rosvil |
| Guadalupe | Vacant | Antonio Abasolo | To be determined | Pirma | Dream Travels, Papa John's |
| Herediano | David Patey | Hernán Medford | Óscar Granados | Umbro | Kölbi, Huawei, San Miguel, Coca-Cola, Papa John's, Toyota |
| Liberia | Julio Salas | Víctor Abelenda | Rafael Núñez | Prosport | Pulmitan, Condovac, Toyota, Philips, Papa John's |
| Limón | Noel Ferguson | Horacio Esquivel | Kareem McLean | Sportek | Reina's |
| Pérez Zeledón | Juan Artavia | José Giacone | Keilor Soto | Living Sport | Kölbi, Tracopa |
| Santos | Rafael Arias | Johnny Chávez | Edder Monguío | Living Sport | El Colono, Eusse, CopyVisión |
| Saprissa | Carlos Watson | Vladimir Quesada | Daniel Colindres | Kappa | Bimbo, Ibérico |
| UCR | Fernando Ocampo Cano | Marco Arias | Darío Delgado | Roma | INS |

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| UCR | Mauricio Wright | Sacked | 17 April 2017 | Pre-season | Marco Arias | 26 May 2017 |
| Cartaginés | Jeaustin Campos | Resigned | 29 May 2017 | Pre-season | Javier Delgado | 30 May 2017 |
| Liberia | Erick Rodríguez | Resigned | 27 July 2017 | Pre-season | Vinicio Alvarado | 31 July 2017 |
| Alajuelense | Benito Floro | Sacked | 21 August 2017 | 7th | Wílmer López | 21 August 2017 |
| Guadalupe | Luis Fallas | Sacked | 4 September 2017 | 12th | Antonio Abasolo | 4 September 2017 |
| Carmelita | Guilherme Farinha | Sacked | 28 September 2017 | 11th | Mario Viquez | 24 November 2017 |
| Liberia | Vinicio Alvarado | Resigned | 7 November 2017 | 12th | Fernando Castro (interim) | 7 November 2017 |
| Cartaginés | Javier Delgado | Mutual consent | 10 November 2017 | 10th | Adrián Leandro | 22 November 2017 |
| Saprissa | Carlos Watson | Resigned | 17 December 2017 | 2nd (Quadrangular) | Vladimir Quesada | 18 December 2017 |

### Notes

* $^1$: Mario Viquez had already assumed as interim manager of Carmelite following Farinha's departure on 28 September.
* $^2$: Adrián Leandro had already assumed as interim manager of Cartaginés following Delgado's departure on 10 November.

## League table
### Regular season

Defending champions Herediano topped the season undefeated with 54 points. By achieving this, Herediano broke two records in the league. They became the first team with the longest undefeated streak (surpassing the 21-match streak by Saprissa in the 2003–04 season, the team being coincidentally managed by Hernán Medford). The team also broke the record for more points achieved in a regular season, surpassing Alajuelense in the 2014 Invierno season.
On 3 September 2017, the match between Saprissa and Grecia was suspended at the 81st minute due to a false bomb threat. The remaining nine minutes were played the next morning.

#### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Herediano | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 41 | 12 | +29 | 54 | Advanced to the quadrangular and a possible final |
| 2 | Saprissa | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 50 | 27 | +23 | 43 | Advanced to the quadrangular |
| 3 | Santos de Guápiles | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 46 | 28 | +18 | 40 | Advanced to the quadrangular |
| 4 | Pérez Zeledón | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 43 | 33 | +10 | 36 | Advanced to the quadrangular |
| 5 | Alajuelense | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 38 | 31 | +7 | 31 | |
| 6 | Grecia | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 31 | |
| 7 | Limón | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 35 | 36 | −1 | 30 | |
| 8 | Cartaginés | 22 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 27 | 38 | −11 | 23 | |
| 9 | UCR | 22 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 28 | −12 | 20 | |
| 10 | Carmelita | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 29 | 38 | −9 | 18 | |
| 11 | Guadalupe | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 22 | 36 | −14 | 16 | |
| 12 | Liberia | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 23 | 57 | −34 | 14 | |

#### Positions by round

* Quadrangular and possible final
* Quadrangular
* Relegation (Aggregate table)
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| Herediano | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Saprissa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Santos | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Pérez Zeledón | 12 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Alajuelense | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| Grecia | 11 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Limón | 4 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
| Cartaginés | 5 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| UCR | 8 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Carmelita | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Guadalupe | 6 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Liberia | 9 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | ALA | CRM | CAR | GRE | GUA | HER | LIB | LIM | PEZ | SAN | SAP | UCR |
| Alajuelense | | 1–3 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Carmelita | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Cartaginés | 2–2 | 2–6 | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–4 | 1–1 |
| Grecia | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Guadalupe | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–3 | | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Herediano | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 5–0 |
| Liberia | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 0–2 | | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 2–3 |
| Limón | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Pérez Zeledón | 3–2 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | | 4–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| Santos | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–0 | | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| Saprissa | 2–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 5–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | | 1–0 |
| C.F. Universidad de Costa Rica | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | |

### Quadrangular – Apertura
#### Teams qualified

* Herediano (Title holders, winners of the regular season)
* Saprissa
* Santos de Guápiles
* Pérez Zeledón

#### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Pérez Zeledón | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 13 | Final |
| 2 | Saprissa | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 10 | |
| 3 | Herediano | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | Final |
| 4 | Santos de Guápiles | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 5 | |

#### Positions by round

* Champions
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Pérez Zeledón | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Saprissa | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Herediano | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Santos | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | HER | PEZ | SAN | SAP |
| Herediano | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Pérez Zeledón | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Santos | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 0–0 |
| Saprissa | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | |

### Apertura finals

Since regular season leaders Herediano were unable to top the quadrangular stage, a double-legged final will be played against the quadrangular winner Pérez Zeledón in order to determine the champions of the Apertura tournament. By getting more points in the aggregate table, Herediano will host the second leg.

## Season statistics
### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Luis Stewart Pérez for Saprissa against Carmelita (30 July)
* Last goal of the season: Jeikel Venegas for Pérez Zeledón against Herediano (20 December)

### Top goalscorers

Source:
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jonathan McDonald | Alajuelense | 15 |
| 2 | Randall Azofeifa | Herediano | 10 |
| 2 | Josué Mitchell | Pérez Zeledón | 10 |
| 4 | Marvin Angulo | Saprissa | 9 |
| 4 | Lauro Cazal | Pérez Zeledón | 9 |
| 4 | José Guillermo Ortiz | Herediano | 9 |
| 7 | Randall Brenes | Cartaginés | 8 |
| 7 | Andrey Francis | Limón | 8 |
| 7 | Aldo Magaña | Guadalupe | 8 |
| 7 | David Ramírez | Saprissa | 8 |
| 7 | Keilor Soto | Pérez Zeledón | 8 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Round | Reference |
| Randall Azofeifa | Herediano | Santos | 4–1 (A) | 27 September 2017 | 10 | |
| Julio César Cruz | Herediano | UCR | 5–0 (H) | 1 November 2017 | 18 | |

### Goalkeeping

| Rank | Player | Club | Matches | Goals Against | Average |
| 1 | Leonel Moreira | Herediano | 21 | 11 | 0,52 |
| 2 | Daniel Cambronero | Herediano | 4 | 3 | 0,75 |
| 3 | Marco Madrigal | Cartaginés | 5 | 4 | 0,80 |
| 4 | Kevin Briceño | Saprissa | 19 | 17 | 0,89 |
| 5 | Bryan Morales | Santos | 13 | 13 | 1,00 |
| 6 | Luis Carlos Zamora | Carmelita | 3 | 3 | 1,00 |
| 7 | Carlos Méndez | UCR | 17 | 18 | 1,06 |
| 8 | Bryan Segura | Pérez Zeledón | 19 | 21 | 1,11 |
| 9 | Patrick Pemberton | Alajuelense | 18 | 22 | 1,22 |
| 10 | Alejandro Gómez | Santos | 14 | 18 | 1,29 |

### Foreign players

This is a list of foreign players in the 2017 Apertura season. The following players:
* Have played at least one game for the respective club.
* Have not been capped for the Costa Rica national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace
A new rule was introduced this season, that clubs can have four foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or a player(s) is released and it's before the close of the season transfer window.
| Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 |
| Alajuelense | Iván Luquetta | Jamille Boatswain | Kurt Frederick | Iago Soares |
| Carmelita | Cristian Tissone | Anderson Andrade | | |
| Cartaginés | Hernán Fener | Fabrizio Ronchetti | Nelson González | |
| Grecia | Team has no foreign players in its squad | Team has no foreign players in its squad | Team has no foreign players in its squad | Team has no foreign players in its squad |
| Guadalupe | Aldo Magaña | Lautaro Ayala | César Martínez | |
| Herediano | Luis Ángel Landín | Jonathan Hansen | Julio César Cruz | |
| Liberia | Boris Balinovic | Vladimir Vujasinović | Zoran Zec | Alessio Lava |
| Limón | Cristian Rivas | Jorge Luis Ruiz | Víctor Pérez | |
| Pérez Zeledón | Paulo Azcurra | Lauro Cazal | Luis Aseff | Milton Martínez |
| Santos | Team has no foreign players in its squad | Team has no foreign players in its squad | Team has no foreign players in its squad | Team has no foreign players in its squad |
| Saprissa | Henrique Moura | Jerry Bengtson | Mariano Torres | Anderson Leite |
| UCR | Mike Campaz | Darío Bustos | Edwards Jiménez | Daniel Ocampo |