Liguilla Final. Unless a final play-off between the winners of the first and second tournaments was played, that was the championship final. Sporting Cristal came with 2 bonus points and Alianza Atletico with 1 bonus point from the previous qualification stage. The other 4 teams – 3 more from the ‘higher’ previous tournament and 1 qualified as winner of Toreno Descentralizado ‘B’ – started here from scratch.
Alianza (Lima) ended last with 3 points without winning a single match. Standing from left: Wilmar Valencia, César Espino, Vinces, Juan Reynoso, Letelier, Roberto Rojas.
Crouching: José Velásquez, Pinto, Teófilo Cubillas, Eugenio La Rosa, Francisco Huertas.
If this really is a photo of 1988, it shows the dire straits Alianza was in: veterans had to be called after the airplane crash killing the regulars. Cubillas, Velazquez and La Rosa were too old by now to do the job.
Union Huaral – 5th with 4 points.
Octavio Espinosa – 4th with 5 points.
Alianza Atletico (Sullana) – 3rd with 6 points (one of then – bonus). Standing from left: Enrique Garcia, Guillermo Lavalle, Pedro Sanjinez, Fredy Berlanga, Johano Bermudez, Pedro Sandoval.
First row: Ramon Anchisi, Jose “pata de rana” Zapata, Eduardo Ortiz, Jorge Castillo, Samuel Chamochumbi.
Universitario – 2nd with 7 points. 2 wins, 3 ties, 0 losses, 8-3.
Sporting Cristal – 1st with 8 points. 2 wins, 2 ties, 1 lost match, 3-2 goal-difference. Was it not for the 2 bonus points carried from the previous tournament, they would have been behind Univesitario.
This is picture not even from Peru, but from the Marlboro Cup, in which Sporting Cristal participated in USA. Anyhow, that was the team also winning the Peruvian championship: standing from left: Pedro Olivares, Segundo Cruz, Martín Ochandarte, José Fernández, Percy Olivares, Jesús Purizaga.
Crouching: César Loyola, César Cueto, Luis Rehder, Víctor Hurtado, Francesco Manassero.
Percy Olivares and Cesar Cueto are the big names here, although by now long in the tooth. But good enough to win a title, even in not very convincing manner. Yet, it did not matter – Sporting Cristal (Lima) won the title – their 9th.
A Football Blog