Category: 1987

First Division. 21 teams, to be reduced to 20, so 2 teams relegated this season. Divided into 4 groups, yet, playing against all league members twice. The teams with least points – relegated. The top 2 teams of every group going to the play-offs. Well, traditionally the English championship was considered the longest and most grueling – consider this: in Mexico, after 40 games in the first stage 8 teams continued to add championship games and the finalists ended with 46 games – or 47, if there was no winner after the two legs. In England – 42 games were played in First and Second Division.
The first stage:
Group 1:
Necaxa – last with 33 points.
Atlante – 4th with 34 points.
Toluca – 3rd with 37 points.
Monterrey was 2nd with 39 points and Tecos – or Universidad Autonoma Guadalajara, or UAG – 1st also with 39 points, but better goal-difference. Both teams qualified to the play-offs.
Group 2.
Leon – last with 32 points. Unfortunately, they finished with the second worst record in the league and were relegated. Champions of 1983, now going down.
Deportivo Neza – 4th with 39 points.
Tampico Madero – 3rd with 41 points. Were they in Group 1, they would be going to the play-off… here – end of the road.
UANL finished 2nd with 44 points and Guadalajara – CD Guadalajara, or Chivas – were group winners with 55 points. They had the best record at the first stage.
Group 3.
Atlas – last with 33 points.

Universidad de Guadalajara – or Leones Negros – 4th with 36 points.
UNAM – or Pumas – 3rd with 40 points.
Puebla, 2nd with 42 points, and Morelia, 1st with 47 points, qualified to the play-offs.
Group 4.
Cobras (Queretaro) – last with 31 points. And since that was the worst record in the league, they were relegated. Not living up to their deadly name, but what can you do?
Angeles (Puebla) – 5th with 34 points.
Irapuato – 4th with 36 points.
Atletico Potosino – 3rd with 42 points.
America, 2nd with 52 points, and Cruz Azul, 1st with 54 points, qualified to the next stage.
The play-offs – or quarter-finals – were live or die, like any cup-format.
Monterrey, the Mexican champions of 1985-86, were eliminated by CD Guadalajara by a goal: 3-3 and 0-1.
America went down by a goal too, losing to Puebla 2-2 and 1-2.
Tecos – or UAG – lost to Cruz Azul, but only after penalty shoot-out: 2-0, 0-2, 2-3 penalty shoot out.
UANL – or Tigres – lost to Morelia 2-3 and 0-2.
In the semifinals
Puebla was eliminated by CD Guadalajara 0-2 and 0-2.
Morelia lost to Cruz Azul 2-0 and 1-4.
Thus, the big final was between the strongest teams all the way from the star of the championship – Cruz Azul (Mexico City) and CD Guadalajara (Guadalajara). The boys from the industrial capital of Jalisco were stronger and made no mistakes – they won both legs: 1-0 and 3-2.
Strong season for Cruz Azul, but second-best.

For outsiders, the squad is fairly anonymous – even those following World Cup could recognized only a handful of names, those playing for the national team of Mexico. But a team consistently strong in such a long season as the Mexican, must be quite good. All together, they won 26 games, tied 14, and lost 6. Scored 75 goals, received 33. In the play-offs they were unbeaten: 5 wins and 1 tie. Scored 12 goal, allowed 5. Very impressive record. Club Deportivo Guadalajara, increasingly becoming officially known as Chivas, won its 9th title. This was their first title since 1970, so they were back with vengeance – and bettered their record as the most successful Mexican club. Cruz Azul stayed 2nd with 7 titles.

Mexico. The well established formula remained unchanged: the top two divisions were divided into 4 groups, but the teams played twice against all teams. After that the top 2 teams in every group proceeded to the next stage. At this point the formulas differed – direct play-offs to the final in First Division, but not so in Second Division – over there the 8 remaining teams were again divided in 2 groups and the winners went the final to compete for the title and promotion. Two teams were relegated from First Division and one was promoted from Second Division – which was to even the numbers in both leagues, for presently they were 21 in the top league and 19 in the second level. Those with least points at the end of first stage of First Division went down. Relegation from Second Division was differently decided: the team with least points at the end of the first stage was directly relegated. The 4 teams at the bottom by total points in the initial stage went to final tournament between themselves and the last two were relegated. Not very complicated, but still questionable concept, as it will be shown. The ever present trouble with Mexican football was names and franchises – who was who and for how long? Is there direct relation between some contemporary club and one with the same name from past? To which city a team really belongs and what is its name? Official name and popular nicknames are seemingly always mixed in the tables, often alternative names given in the one and same information of championship. Nothing certain… so here and there alternatives shall be given.
The Mexican formula had been suspect largely in terms of objective strength and this Second Division championship was a great example of it – the groups were drawn in unfortunate way: four of the strongest teams this season happened to be together in Group 2, so inevitably two of them did not qualified to the next stage. In the same time Group 1 was the weakest – three of the five teams went to the relegation tournament and those who qualified to the next stage were rather weak so far. Since at the end of the season a full combined table was made, the discrepancy is hard to ignore:
If the formula was standard league formula, Santos Laguna would have been unquestionable winner: they had 66 points after 36 games, 9 more than second-best Tecoman. Jalisco would have been 3rd. Nut as the formula was… Jalisco did not even qualified to the next stage, for the top three were together in Group 2. In standard league championship the eventual winner would have been… 12th with their 45 points. However, nothing like that happened at the bottom, for relegation depended on points, not on group standing and the relegated team was last on both accounts: last in the meaningless final table and last in the relegation tournament.
Zacatecas, or Mineros (Zacatecas) was directly relegated – they were last with 27 points and worst goal-difference in the combined table.
The next four at the bottom played the final relegation tournament: Nuevo Necaxa and Pachuca ended out. Progreso (Cocula) and Chetumal survived. If it was just direct relegation – Nueva Necaxa was going to be relegated, but not Pachuca – Progreso would have been. Zacatecas, Chetumal, and Pachuca played in Group 1… Nueva Necaxa played in Group 2, Progreso – in Group 3, and no team in Group 4 was too weak to end in danger of relegation.
In the next stage things changed… In Group 1 Texcoco finished last with 4 points, Tecoman was 3rd with 6 points, Pioneros (Cancun) – 2nd with 8 points, and U.A. Queretaro won the group with 10 points. In its original Group 4 Queretaro quaified as 2nd in the group with 50 points – which placed them 6th in the combined final table. But they reached the final.
More surprised in Group 2: Universidad de Colima was last with 6 points, Zacatepes – 3rd with 6 points, Santos Laguna – 2nd with 7 points and on top – Correcaminos UAT with 11 points. In the combined table the winners were 12th… Meantime the originally formidable Santos Laguna lost all of its steam – either that, or Correcaminos, placed in the weakest original group played at first the bare minimum in order to qualify, saving strength for the games which mattered.
May be before the final of the season the rest of league members should be given with alternatives in brackets and final position in the combined table: Tapatio, 14th, La Piedad (or Reboceros), 13th, Tepic (or Deportivo, or Deportivo Tepic J.A.P.), 11th, Oaxaca (or Chapulineros), 10th, Texcoco (or Faraones may be? Or Club de Futbol Texcoco? Or Toros?), 8th, Orizaba (or Albinegros), 7th.
So, the final – two-legged affair, contested between U.A. Tamaulipas and U.A. Queretaro. Then again… contested between Correcaminos and Gallos Blancos. Or between Correcaminos de la UAT and Gallos Blancos de la UAQ. Same teams, different varieties of names, go figure. They were equal, though and the two legs produced no victor – 0-0 and 1-1. Third match was stage, at Azteca in Mexico City, neutral ground. This match ended scoreless – 0-0 – and the last resort was penalty shoot-out, where Correcaminos prevailed 4-2. High drama.
Thus Correcaminos UAT – best known as Correcaminos – was the champion of Second Division and promoted to the top league. How fair was that is another story, but they won and that was all of importance. A return to top flight in their case. They won the championship of Second Division for the first time. Still… in a normal championship formula, they would have been 12th…

CONCACAF Champions Cup – or Copa de Campeones y Subcampeones CONCACAF, as the tournament is officially called. The usual messy and rather strangely organized competition, in which the only worthy teams were the Mexican: America and Monterrey. They, however, could not reach the big final both – at the final of Northern/Central Section one of them was inevitably out. One may argue that stronger teams (from Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador) were actually in impossible position unlike the much weaker Caribbean teams, but such was the construction of the tournament. US teams were practically a joke – San Pedro Yugoslavs (who did not even play – they withdrew) and St. Louis Kutis SC and the Mexican sailed to the final in which America won over Monterrey 3-3 and 2-0. Thus, one of the CONCACAF was America.
The Caribbean Section was even murkier: the representatives of Surinam – Robin Hood and Paloeloe withdrew for financial reasons at the first leg. The whole divide into sections hardly made sense – few Caribbean states participated and among those who did not was even Haiti, better known to most thanks to their play at the 1974 World Cup. Jamaica had only one team in the tournament, which required 2 of every country. In the second leg the second match between Defence Force (Trinidad & Tobago) and Club Franciscain was not played – apparently, the hosts of it, Club Francisacain, decided to withdrew after losing the first game. At this stage is also entirely unclear how Etoile de Morne-à-l’Eau (Guadelupe) was eliminated – by results, they won against VSADC (St Lucia) 0-0 and 3-1. Seemingly, records of semi-final round are non-existent – if there was such round. However, 3 teams qualified from the previous round, yet the next was already the final and between the teams of Trinidad & Tobaco – Defence Force (who played so far just one match – they had a bye in the first round, then Club Franciscain withdrew before the second leg) and Trintoc, who played solid 4 games before reaching the final (they successfully eliminated teams with outlandish names – Rick’s Superstars from Saint Vincent first and then Golden Star from Martinique). Where and why Etoile de Morne-a-l’Eau evaporated nobody knows… The clash of Trinidad ended with Defence Force victory – 1-1 and 2-1 – and once again they had a chance to win the CONCACAF trophy. On theory. In reality they managed a tie at home – 1-1 – and lost in Mexico 0-2.
One can appreciate Defence Force in their own terms – a small team from small country, which was doing quite good on international level. But not when against them were real professionals – no matter how determined and heroic, they had no chance.
America (Mexico City) won the CONCACAF Champions Cup for a second time.

Interamerican Cup – unclear was the 1987 really played: the contest between River Plate (Argentina) and Alajuelense (Costa Rica) took place in 1987 indeed, but the continental champions were of 1986. Sometimes the final was considered for 1987, sometimes for 1986. So – look back at the 1986 where it is observed.

South American Player of the Year. Copa America ruled the year, so the best players were chosen largely on their performance in it. European-based players did not make the list, as usual. Thus, it was not a surprise that Uruguayans were ranked high – Jose Perdomo was voted 3rd and Obdulio Trasante – 2nd. But above them was the Colombian Carlos Valderama.
‘El Pibe’ Valderama was already noticed, but it was also a matter of maturity – now 26 old, the great attacking midfielder-playmaker was at the best age for a player. After starting with Union Magdalena in 1981, he was moved for a season to Millonarios and then, in 1985, to Deportivo Cali – already having plenty of experience and finally settling in stronger team. He was a national team regular for Colombia since 1985, part of the great generation, which practically put Colombia on the map, a generation led by him, still not even at its peak. Fans loved him for his elegant moves, great skills and creativity. And for his rolled down socks too, going along with his exotic hairstyle – Valderama was a true star.
Yet, Deportivo Cali was in the shadow of America (Cali), so it was not club football exactly moving him to the top of the continent.
On club level, the Uruguyans achieved more – they won Copa Libertadores with Penarol. They won Copa America too, playing for Uruguay, but… in Copa America Valderama dazzled the crowds and Colombia did not do bad.
Valderama was stronger than current World champions and on their own turf too.
He outshined Maradona in his home. This year Valderama proved his worth and practically established himself as the best Colombian player of all times. And although his competition won trophies and he did not, he deserved the award most.

Venezuela. Apart of the excitement over Deportivo Tachira heroics in Copa Libertadores, Venezuela was having new champion this season, which was played for the first time in two years – 1986-87 instead of only 1987. And the structure was coming to maturity: two teams promoted from second level and two teams relegated from the top league.
Pereganga Margarita (Isla Margarita), founded just in 1985, won the Second Division and went up. Second was Penisulares (Araya) and they were also pormoted.
The top league of 14 teams played 2-staged championship – at first the teams were divided into two groups, Oriental and Occidental, and the top 4 teams in each qualified to the final stage. The last in each group were relegated, only the rule for that was unclear: Galicia (Caracas) was last in the Oriental Group and was properly relegated, but in the Occidental Group Universidad de los Andes was last, but remained – Llaneros, 6th, was relegated instead. In any case 3 teams in each group did not qualified to the final stage: in the Oriental Group Atletico Anzoategui, 5th, Unversidad Central, 6th, and Galicia, 7th. In the Occidental Group the season ended at this stage for Zamora, 5th, Llaneros, 6th, and Universidad de los Andes, 7th. Among those who qualified there was already a leader: Maritimo won 15 of their 24 games and no other team came close. Naturally, they won the Oriental Group with 36 points, followed by Deportivo Italia with 28 points (10 ties!), Caracas FC – 3rd with 25 points (and 21-21 goal-difference), and Mineros – 4th with 22 points. Portuguesa won the Occidental Group thanks to better goal-difference – they and Estudiantes finished with 31 points each, Deportivo Tachira was 3rd with 27 points and Union Deportiva – 4th with 24 points.
The Final Stage was round-robin 2-legged affair, contested by two teams – Maritimo and Deportivo Tachira. Deportivo Italia finished last with 9 points. Portuguesa – 7th with 11 points, Mineros – 6th with 12 points, Union Deportiva – 5th with 13 points, Caracas FC – 4th with 13 points.
Estudiantes took the bronze medals with 15 points.
Deportivo Tachira eventually lost the race for the title by a single point – they finished with 19 points, although greatly outscored all other teams (21 goals – Union Deportiva was second best scoring team at the final stage with 16).
With 20 points, Maritimo (Caracas) prevailed in the race for the title – 8 wins, 4 ties, 2 lost games. Certainly, they were the most winning team in this championship, but somewhat there victories were not spectacular – more of a good work of their defense, than of exciting strikers. 13-3 was their scoring record at the final stage: allowing only 3 goals in 14 games was fantastic achievement, but they scored less than a goal-per-game average. No matter, they were best, winning the very first title in the history of the club.

Bolivia. The championship formula was almost identical with that of Ecuador – at the first stage a regular league championship was played and the top 8 of the 14 top league clubs qualified to the second stage. In the second stage the the 8 teams were divided into 2 groups and the top 2 teams in each of them qualified to the semifinals. Then the winners in the semifinals played the final of the second stage and after that the winners of the first and second stages played the championship final.
First stage: Universitario (Sucre) was last with 18 points, Ciclon (Tarija) – 13th with 19 points, Aurora (Cochabamba) – 12th with 19 points, San Jose (Oruro) – 11th with 21 points, Real (Santa Cruz) – 10th with 23 points, and Jorge Wilstermann (Cochabamba) – 9th with 24 points. Universitario and Ciclon were possibly relegated. Very weak season for Jorge Wilstermann.
The top 8 qualified to the next stage: Blooming (Santa Cruz) – 8th with 25 points, Always Ready (La Paz) – 7th with 26 points, Destroyers (Santa Cruz) – 6th with 28 points, Litoral (La Paz) – 5th with 28 points, The Strongest (La Paz) – 4th with 29 points, Petrolero (Cochabamba) – 3rd with 32 points, Oriente Petrolero (Santa Cruz) – 2nd with 34 points.
Bolivar (La Paz) won the First Stage with 38 points and instantly qualified to the championship final. Which meant that they could take it easy in the Second Stage – if they decided so.
Second Stage. Deliberately or not, but Group A was made of only clubs from La Paz and the provincials played in Group B.
Group A: Always Ready was last with 2 points, Bolivar – 3rd with 7 points, Litoral – 2nd with 7 points and The Strongest – 1st with 8 points. The top two qualified to the semifinals.
Group B: Petrolero – 4th with 5 points,
Blooming – 3rd with 5 points, Oriente Petrolero – 2nd with 6 points and Destroyers – 1st with 8 points. Top two went to the semifinals.
Semifinals: Litoral was eliminated by Destroyers 0-1 and 1-1 and

The Strongest lost to Oriente Petrolero 2-1 and 1-3.
In the final Destroyers lost to Oriente Petrolero 1-1 and 1-3.
Oriente Petrolero won the Second Stage and qualified to the championship final.
In the championship final everything was decided in the first leg – Bolivar absolutely destroyed Oriente Petrolero 6-0. However, in Santa Cruz the hosts won 3-0. And since goal-difference did not count… a third match was scheduled in Cochabamba. Bolivar left no doubts now: 5-2!
Oriente Petrolero (Santa Cruz) finished second this season.

Bolivar (La Paz) won at the end, but leaving a bit of a bitter taste: they had up and down season. Seemingly, they did not play very serious football in the second stage, satisfied with reaching the championship final in the first stage. Also, it looked like they decided the job was done in the first leg of the final and thus permitted Oriente Petrolero to get a play-off. Such suspicions come from the results: 6-0 at first and then 5-2 in the third game. But whatever ends well cannot be judged harshly: Bolivar won its 8th title and equalized Jorge Wilstermann in the lead of the Bolivian strongest teams.

Ecuador. 18-teams top league, going though three stages. In every stage the number of teams decreased . The last in the opening stage was relegated. The top teams in every stage carried bonus points to the next stage.
Second Division left little information: only the winner.
It was Juventus (Esmeraldas). Full name: Club Social y Deportivo Juventus, sometimes written C.S.D. Juventus, more often just Juventus. Little known club – this championship was the their highest achievement, never to be repeated: champions of Second Division. Promotion came along with the title and they were going to experience top level football for the first time on their history in 1988.
First Division, First Stage – standard league championship. The top 12 teams qualified to the Second Stage, the winner got 2 bonus points and the second best – 1 bonus point. The last team in the final table was relegated. Five teams ended their season with the end of this stage – those placed from 13th to 17th plus the relegated 18th.
Deportivo Cotopaxi (Latacunga) was last and relegated with 12 points. Hopeless outsiders, really.
River Plate (Riobamba) – 17th with 24 points.
Esmeraldas Petrolero (Esmeraldas) – 16th with 25 points.
Universidad Capolica (Quito) – 15th with 25 points. Standing from left: Eloy Jarrín, Patiño, De Souza, Amarilla, Francisco Reinoso, Juan C. Jácome.
First row: Antonio Arias, Patricio Corella, Mario Raffart, Víctor Chiliquinga, Toledo.
Deportivo Quevedo (Quevedo) – 14th with 28 points.
America (Quito) – 13th with 30 points.
The top 12 qualified to Second Stage: Macara – 12th with 34 points, Tecnico Universitario – 11th with 34 points, Emelec – 10th with 34 points, LDU de Portoviejo – 9th with 36 points, Audaz Octobrino – 8th with 37 points, Aucas – 7th with 37 points, Deportivo Quito – 6th with 37 points, Filanbanco – 5th with 42 points, Deportivo Cuenca – 4th with 43 points, LDU de Quito – 3rd with 43 points, El Nacional – 2nd with 44 points, and
Barcelona (Guayaquil) – first with 47 points. As stage winners, they got 2 bonus points.
Standing from left: Fausto Klinger, Holger Quinones, Toninho Vieira, Morales, Lorenzo Klinger, Vasconcelos.
Crouching: Lupo Quinones, Alfredo De Los Santos, Flavio Perlaza, Mauricio Arguello, Galo Vasquez.
With frequent South American squad changes… this team spreads from 1985 to at least first half of 1987.
Second Stage – the qualified 12 teams were divided into 2 groups and the top 2 teams in each group qualified to the Liguilla Final, the third and last stage. The group winners got 1 bonus point. Bonus points will be given in brackets.
Group 1.
Tecnico Universitario (Ambato) – 6th with 5 points. Standing from left: Oscar Achilier, Arias, Julio Lasalvia, Villegas, Fabián Burbano, Juan F. Muhlethaler.
Front: Martín Caballero, Raúl A. Murillo, Fausto Delgado, Cristóbal Nazareno, Luis Chérrez.
Two Uruguyans here: Julio Lasalvia and Juan F. Muhlethaler.
LDU (Portoviejo) – 5th with 10 points.
Aucas (Quito) – 4th with 10 points.
LDU (Quito) – 3rd with 10 points.
Filanbanco – 2nd with 13 points – and Barcelona – 1st with 14 points (2 of them carried bonus) – qualified to the final stage. Barcelona got 1 bonus point for finishing first.
Group 2.
Deportivo Cuenca (Cuenca) – 6th with 4 points.
El Nacional (Quito) – 5th with 10 points (1 of them carried bonus point).
Emelec (Guayaquil) – 4th with 10 points.
Macara (Ambato) – 3rd with 11 points.
Audaz Octubrino – 2nd with 12 points – and Deportivo Quito – 1st with 14 points – qualified to the final stage. As group winners, Deportivo Quito got 1 bonus point.
Third stage – Liguilla Final. Four teams played round-robin tournament, meeting twice the others.
Deportivo Quito (Quito) – 4th with 4 points (1 of them bonus).
Audaz Octubrino (Machala) – 3rd with 8 points.
Filanbanco (Milagro) – 2nd with 8 points. Their finest season, finishing unbeaten the final stage and with better goal-difference than Barcelona. But… the opposition carried bonus point.

Barcelona (Guayaquil) finished first with 9 points. 3 wins, 2 ties, and one lost game gave them 8 points. Their goal-difference 5-2 was second-best – Filanbanco had 6-2. It was the bonus point carried from Second Stage making them champions – sheer luck, one may say. But Barcelona won both First and Second Stage, were consistent all the way and thus the more deserving team. Too bad the underdog was unable to win, but in all fairness Barcelona had very strong season and after playing grueling 50 championship games they triumphed with their 8th title. Along with the local stars like Lorenzo Klinger, foreign talent helped – the Uruguayans Walkir Silva and Alfredo de los Santos and Brazilians Toninho Vieira and Vasconcelos.

Peru. A monster championship rivaling Brazil in its complications. The 1987 Torneo Descentralizado, the top category of Peruvian football, was played by 30 teams. The season started in 1987 but ended in early 1988. The national champion was Universitario.
The national championship was divided into two tournaments, the Regional Tournament and the Descentralized Tournament. The winners of each tournament faced off in the final and received the berths for the Copa Libertadores 1988. The Regional Tournament divided the teams into four groups; Metropolitan, North, Central, and South. Each group had its teams qualify for the Regional Finals, the Descentralized Tournament and the Intermediary Division. The Regional Finals determined the Regional Champion. The Descentralized Tournament divided the teams in three groups and had its teams qualify for the Descentralized Liguilla which decided the Descentralized Champion. The Intermediary Division was a promotion/relegation tournament between first and second division teams. Depending on performance, bonus points were awarded to the top teams before the last stage – Liguilla . At the end a final between the winners of Liguilla Regional and Liguilla decided the champion of Peru. However, there was a kind of second level championship, for there is also second level champion of the country.
AELU Guardia Repiblicana won it. It is unclear what exactly they played for – may be second level victory gave promotion to the first level national championship.
As for the top level, unfortunately, it must be shown stage by stage.
Torneo Regional. Four groups, but with different number of participants.
Metropolitan – 12 teams. Top 3 qualified to both Liquilla Regional and Torneo Descentralizado. The next 4 were going to Torneo Descentralizado and last 5 – to promotion/relegation tournament Intermedia.
Octavio Espinoza (the picture may not be from this year) was last with 9 points.
Juventud La Palma – 11th with 14 points.
Sport Boys – 10th with 15 points. Standing from left: Cárdenas, Salas, Dámaso, León, Castillo, Puntriano. First row: Cavero, Balán Gonzáles, Rivera, Muchotrigo, Munayco.
Internazionale – 9th with 16 points.
Juventud La Joya – or La Joya-Iqueno – 8th with 20 points.
Those 5 went to Intermedia.
Deportivo Municipal – 7th with 22 points, Alianza Lima – 6th with 25 points, CNI – 5th with 25 points, and Sporting Cristal – 4th with 26 points qualified to Torneo Descentralizado.
San Agustin – or Collegio San Agustin, or Deportivo San Agustin – 3rd with 28 points. They qualified to both Torneo Descentralizado and Liguilla Regional.
Union Huaral and Universitario finished with 32 points each and Union Huaral had 2 goals better goal-difference, but it did not matter: a final play-off was staged to decide the Zone winner.
Universitario won 1-0.
They, along with Union Huaral and San Agustin qualified to both Liguilla Regional and Torneo Descentralizado. The teams played 3 times againts each other.
North. 6 teams played – the winner going to both Liguilla Regional and Torneo Descentralizado, the next 2 qualified to Torneo Descentralizado, and the last 3 – to Intermedia.
Deportivo Canana – last with 10 points.
Atletico Torino – 5th with 13 points. Standing from left: ITALO ESPINOZA, PAY PEÑA, WALTER PEJERREY, BOLITAS SANJINEZ,POCHO AGUIRRE, CARLOS REINA, PEYO SANJINEZ, EL CHINO SALSA. First row: PANCHITO CASTRO, CANTHY TAVARA, LORENZO MENA, CESAR MANRIQUE, PACO MONTERO, PATERRANA ZAPATA, EL MUDO ANTOLIN.
Atletico Grau – 4th with 14 points.
Hungaritos Agustinos – 3rd with 16 points and UTC – 2nd with 18 points, qualified to Torneo Descentralizado.
Carlos A. Mannucci won the championship with 20 points and qualified to both Liguilla Regional and Torneo Descentralizado.
Central – 6 teams, the same formula as the other provincial zones. One game apparently was not played and the last two teams finished with 14 games instead of 15.
Mina San Vicente – or Club San Vivente – from equally mysterious city of San Ramon or San Roman, was last with 5 points. Standing from left: Esteban Falla, Ernesto Herrera, Luis Duarte, Matias, Luis Soucon, Rojas. Crouching: Alegria, Patillo, Cáceres, Luis Casso, Quijandria.
Defensor ANDA – or Deportivo ANDA – 5th with 15 points.
ADT – 4th with with 15 points.
Deportivo Pucallpa – 3rd with 16 points, and Union Minas – 2nd with 19 points, qualified to Torneo Descentralizado.
Deportivo Junin won the Zone with 20 points and qualified to both Liguilla Regional and Torneo Descentralizado.
South. 6 teams and 3 games of each team against all others.
Juvenil Los Angeles – last with 9 points.

Huracan – 5th with 12 points.
FBC Melgar – 4th with 13 points.
Cienciano – 3rd with 16 points, and Alfonso Ugarte – 2nd with 18 points, qualified to Torneo Descentralizado.
Coronel Bolognesi won the Zone with 22 points and qualified to both Liguilla Regional and Torneo Descentralizado.
Liguilla Regional – 6 teams played once against each other. The winner qualified to the national final and also qualified to 1988 Copa Libertadores.
Deportivo Junin – last with 0 points, Carlos A. Mannucci – 5th with 5 points, Coronel Bolognesi – 4th with 5 points, San Agustin – 3rd with 6 points, and on top – Union Huaral and Universitario again with equal points and this time also with equal goal-difference. But no play-off was staged…
Universitario was declared champion and qualified to both Copa Libertadores and the national final. Standing from left: Leo Rojas, Javier Chirinos, Pedro Requena, Leoncio Cervera, Hugo Gastulo, César Chávéz-Riva. First row: Juvenal Briceño, Eduardo Rey Muñoz, Eduardo Malásquez, Jesús Torrealva, José Luis Carranza.
Torneo Descentralizado – 16 teams played standard league championship. Just note that teams from Metropolitano Zone, even not playing in the Liguallia Regional, ended the season with 52 games – 22 in the Metropolitano and 30 in Torneo Descentralizado! Those qualifying to both Liguillas added another 10 games. Anyhow, the top 2 teams in this stage earned bonus points to carry to Liguilla – 2 points for the winner and 1 point for the second best. The top 6 teams qualified to the Liguilla.
Union Minas – last with 19 points.
Hungaritos Agustinos – 15th with 21 points.
Deportivo Pucallpa – 14th with 22 points.
San Agustin – 13th with 22 points.
Carlos A. Mannucci – 12th with 23 points.
Deportivo Junin – 11th with 24 points.
UTC – 10th with 25 points.
Cienciano – 9th with 27 points.
Deportivo Municipal – 8th with 31 points.
CNI – 7th with 31 points.
The top 6 teams qualified to the Liguilla: Alfonso Ugarte – 6th with 32 points, Coronel Bolgnesi – 5th with 36 points, Union Huaral – 4th with 39 points, Universitario – 3rd with 41 points,
Alianza (Lima) – 2nd with 43 points. They got 1 bonus point.
Sporting Cristal – 1st with 44 points. Got 2 bonus points.
Liguilla – the 6 qualified teams played once against each other. The winner qualified to the national final and to the second Peruvian spot in the 1988 Copa Libertadores.
Alfonso Ugarte – 6th with 1 point.
Coronel Bolognesi – 5th with 3 points.
Sporting Cristal – 4th with 6 points. (That’s with the 2 bonus points)
Universitario – 3rd with 6 points. Standing from left: Leonardo Rojas, Javier Chirinos, Pedro Requena, José A. Trece, Samuel Eugenio, César Chávez-Riva.
First row: Juvenal Briceño, José Carranza, Fidel Suárez, Eduardo Malásquez, Eduardo Rey Muñoz.
Union Huaral – 2nd with 8 points. Standing from left: Roberto Vega, Pedro Paredes, Quinto, Jorge Cordero, Hilario Bernaola.
Crouching: Ángel ´El Diablo´ Fuentes, Pedro Ruíz, Domingo Farfán, Miguel Elguera, Humberto Rey Muñoz, Eusebio Acasuzo.
The picture is suspect – although dated 1987, this looks like the team in 1992. However, Union Huaral had strong, but rather unfortunate season – beaten in play-off at Metropolitan Zone, placed 2nd in the Liguilla Regional for unknown reason, and now – beaten only because of bonus point carried by their rival.
Thanks to their bonus point earned in Torneo Descentralizado Alianza finished ahead of Union Huaral with 9 points. Strange campaign – unless it was well thought of in advance: so far, Alianza was not exactly a leader. In the early stages of the championship they were quite weak and did not even qualified to the Liguilla Regional. But they did well when mattered most – won, chancy as it was, the Liguilla and with that reached the national final and took the second Peruvian spot in the 1988 Copa Libertadores. Standing from left: César Espino, Gino Peña, William León, Juan Reynoso,  José Gonzáles Ganoza, Tomás Farfán.
Front row: Luis Escobar, Juan Illescas, José Casanova, Alfredo Tomassini, Benjamín Rodríguez.
Finally to the final. The whole complicated championship took time and the 1987 title was decided on March 26, 1988! A grand Lima derby: Universitario vs Alianza. What is there to say… Universitario played 63 games before the final, Alianza – 57! Only speculatively Alianza seemed to have the edge – less tired and also getting stronger at the last stages of the season. On the field, it was tough as ever and Universitario prevailed 1-0.
Alianza lost the most important match of the long season. It is hard to see them as victims, though… most of the team died in air crush, a huge disaster. They had to come back from very traumatic experience plus creating a new team in a rush. Under such circumstances, it was a miracle Alianza reached the championship final at all.
Universitario (Lima) triumphed at the end. Hardly a great team, but hats down to these boys: they played 64 championship games! Just for that they deserved to win – it was long grueling championship in which they tried their best at every stage. May be lucky a bit in the beginning, but consistently strong to the end. Champions at last and that was the 17th title for Universitario.

Paraguay. The championship had rather simple formula: three round-robin stages with separate tables. Since one team won them all, there was no final of a kind – only a tournament between the next 6 teams for the second Paraguayan spot in Copa Libertadores.
Little evident from the second level.
2 de Febrero most likely played in the Second Division, but
San Lorenzo won the championship and was promoted to the top league.
River Plate was the second promoted team.
First Division. Too much to list tables for practically 4 separate tournaments, so only winners of each will be mentioned and in the third-stage table places in the previous tables will be given in brackets.
Cerro Porteno won the opening stage with 13 points: 5 wins, 3 ties, 1 lost match, 15-5 goal-difference.
Standing from left: Fernandez, Rivarola, Zavala, Jacquet, Garay, Barrios. Crouching: Struway, Riveros, Rashle, Retamoso, Britez Roman.
Second stage:
Cerro Porteno won a second time, this time with point more: 6 wins, 2 ties, again only 1 lost game, 10-4, 14 points.
Nothing new in the third stage:
Cerro Porteno again and with its best performance too: 6 wins, 2 ties, 1 loss, 11-3, 14 points. Second row: Ovelar, ?, Ramos, Zabala, Florentin, Arce. First row: Tarciso, Sotelo, Joaozinho, Paniagua, Zarate.
Libertad was 2nd at this pahse. (7th and 8th)
Guarani – 3rd (6th and 10th)
General Caballero – 4th (5th and 6th)
Sol de America – 5th (4th and 5th)
Olimpia – 6th (9th and 2nd)
Sport Colombia – 7th (4th and 3rd).
Colegiales – 8th (3rd and 4th).
Sportivo Luqueno – 9th (10th and 7th).
Nacional – 10th (2nd and 9th).

Since there is no something like combined table, it is difficult to guess how relegation was determined and also on what base the teams playing the Copa Libertadores tournament qualified. Nor it is understandable how this final tournament was played. Anyhow, Nacional ended 6th in it, General Caballero was 5th, Colegiales – or Atletico Colegiales – 4th, Libertad – 3rd, Sol de America – 2nd.
Olimpia won the tournament and the second Copa Libertadores spot – which may have been the reason to consider them vice-champions of the country.
But there was no uncertainty about the champions: Cerro Porteno won every phase. 21st title in total, but their first since 1977. Ten years waiting for it, but it was very confident victory.
Standing from left: Alsides Barreto, Pedro Garay, Raul Navarro, Catalino Rivarola, Justo Jacket, Cesar Zavala.
Front row: Tarciso, Jose Domingo Riveros, Sanahoria Britez Roman, Pedro Osvaldo Garcia, Robson Rematoso.