# 2001 in Paraguayan football

The following article presents a summary of the 2001 football in Paraguay.

## First division results
### Torneo Apertura

The Apertura tournament was played in a single all-play-all system. At the end, the top eight teams qualified to a playoff stage to determine the Apertura champion.
| Position | Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Scored | Conceded | Points |
| 1 | Libertad | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 20 |
| 2 | Sportivo Luqueño | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 14 | 19 |
| 3 | Olimpia | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 15 | 18 |
| 4 | Guaraní | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 18 |
| 5 | Cerro Porteño | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 13 | 12 |
| 6 | Sol de América | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 18 | 10 |
| 7 | Cerro Corá | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 9 |
| 8 | Atl. Colegiales | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 8 |
| 9 | San Lorenzo | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 5 |
| 10 | 12 de Octubre | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 20 | 3 |

#### Apertura playoff stage

The top eight teams qualified to this stage.

##### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Atl. Colegiales | 2-2* | Libertad | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Sol de América | 1-3 | Olimpia | 1-2 | 0-1 |
| Guaraní | 2-3 | Cerro Porteño | 0-2 | 2-1 |
| Cerro Corá | 3-5 | Sportivo Luqueño | 0-1 | 3-4 |
*Libertad advances to next round due to better position in the Apertura table.

##### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Cerro Porteño | 3-1 | Libertad | 1-0 | 2-1 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2-0 | Olimpia | 0-0 | 2-0 |

##### Apertura final

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Cerro Porteño | 6-1 | Sportivo Luqueño | 3-0 | 3-1 |
Cerro Porteño wins the Apertura tournament final by an aggregate score of 6-1 on June 24, 2001.

### Torneo Clausura

The Clausura tournament was played in a single all-play-all system. At the end, the top eight teams qualified to a playoff stage to determine the Clausura champion.
| Position | Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Scored | Conceded | Points |
| 1 | Cerro Porteño | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 17 |
| 2 | Libertad | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| 3 | 12 de Octubre | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 16 |
| 4 | Cerro Corá | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 14 |
| 5 | San Lorenzo | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 13 |
| 6 | Sportivo Luqueño | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 7 | Guaraní | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| 8 | Sol de América | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 9 |
| 9 | Atl. Colegiales | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 9 |
| 10 | Olimpia | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 7 |

#### Clausura playoff stage

The top eight teams qualified to this stage with the exception of Cerro Corá, who was replaced by Olimpia because Cerro Corá was already relegated to the second division based on a three-year average point table.

##### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Guaraní | 4-3 | 12 de Octubre | 2-3 | 2-0 |
| Sol de América | 2-2* | Libertad | 0-1 | 2-1 |
| Olimpia | 0-4 | Cerro Porteño | 0-3 | 0-1 |
| San Lorenzo | 1-0 | Sportivo Luqueño | 1-0 | 0-0 |
*Libertad advances to next round due to better position in the Apertura table.

##### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Cerro Porteño | 4-2 | San Lorenzo | 1-2 | 3-0 |
| Libertad | 1-4 | Guaraní | 1-1 | 0-3 |

##### Clausura final

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Cerro Porteño | 4-4 (7 - 6 pen) | Guaraní | 3-4 | 1-0 |
Cerro Porteño wins the Clausura tournament final in a penalty shootout.

### Championship game playoff

Since Cerro Porteño won both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments they were declared as the national champions and no playoff game was played.

### Relegation / Promotion

* Cerro Corá automatically relegated to the second division after finishing last in the average points table based over a three-year period.
Atl. Colegiales finished second-to-last in the aggregate points table, so had to participate in the promotion play-off game against second division runners-up Club Sport Colombia. Sport Colombia won the playoff game by an aggregate score of 5-1, so Colegiales was relegated to the second division.
* Deportivo Recoleta promoted to the first division by winning the second division tournament.

### Qualification to international competitions

* Cerro Porteño qualified to the 2002 Copa Libertadores by winning the Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura.
* The remaining two spots for Copa Libertadores were decided in the Pre-Libertadores playoff tournament.

#### Pre-Libertadores playoff

Six teams participated based on aggregate points during the year. Sportivo Luqueño entered the playoff with three bonus points by winning the runners-up game against Guarani.
| Position | Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Scored | Conceded | Bonus Points | Points |
| 1 | 12 de Octubre | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | [0] | 10 |
| 2 | Olimpia | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | [0] | 10 |
| 3 | Libertad | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 11 | [0] | 7 |
| 4 | Guaraní | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | [0] | 7 |
| 5 | Sportivo Luqueño | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 13 | [3] | 7 |
| 6 | Sol de America | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | [0] | 4 |
* Olimpia and 12 de Octubre qualify to the 2002 Copa Libertadores.

## Lower divisions results

| Level | Tournament | Champion |
| 2nd | Intermedia | Recoleta |
| 3rd (G.A. teams) | Primera de Ascenso | Club Independiente (Campo Grande) |
| 3rd (interior teams) | UFI Champions Cup | Itá Ybaté (Villeta) |
| 4th (G.A. teams) | Segunda de Ascenso | Humaitá |

## Paraguayan teams in international competitions

* 2001 Copa Libertadores:
** Cerro Porteño: round of 16
** Olimpia: group stage
** Guaraní: group stage
* Copa MERCOSUR 2001:
** Cerro Porteño: quarterfinals
** Olimpia: group stage

## Paraguay national team

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Comp | Paraguay scorers | Report |
| 2001-01-27 | Hong Kong Stadium Hong Kong | South Korea | 1 - 1 | F | Morinigo 68' | N/A |
| March 28, 2001 | Estadio Centenario Montevideo | Uruguay | 0 - 1 | WCQ 2002 | Alvarenga 64' | Report |
| April 24, 2001 | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa Quito | Ecuador | 2 - 1 | WCQ 2002 | Cardozo 26' | Report |
| June 2, 2001 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco Asunción | Chile | 1 - 0 | WCQ 2002 | Paredes 90' | Report |
| 2001-06-28 | National Stadium Tokyo, Japan | FR Yugoslavia | 0 - 2 | Kirin Cup | Caceres 39' Ferreira 83' | N/A |
| 2001-07-01 | Sapporo Dome Sapporo, Japan | Japan | 2 - 0 | Kirin Cup | | N/A |
| July 12, 2001 | Estadio Pascual Guerrero Cali | Peru | 3 - 3 | CA2001 | Ferreira 23', 64' Garay 90' | N/A |
| July 15, 2001 | Estadio Pascual Guerrero Cali | Mexico | 0 - 0 | CA2001 | - | N/A |
| July 18, 2001 | Estadio Pascual Guerrero Cali | Brazil | 3 - 1 | CA2001 | Alvarenga 11' | N/A |
| August 15, 2001 | Beira Rio Porto Alegre | Brazil | 2 - 0 | WCQ 2002 | - | Report |
| September 15, 2001 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco Asunción | Bolivia | 5 - 1 | WCQ 2002 | Paredes 33' Cardozo 45', 89' Chilavert 50' Santa Cruz 69' | Report |
| October 7, 2001 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco Asunción | Argentina | 2 - 2 | WCQ 2002 | Chilavert 51' Morinigo 70' | Report |
| November 8, 2001 | Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo San Cristóbal | Venezuela | 3 - 1 | WCQ 2002 | Arce 28' | Report |
| November 14, 2001 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco Asunción | Colombia | 0 - 4 | WCQ 2002 | - | Report |