2005–06 in Argentine football

The 2005–06 Argentine First Division Apertura was a nail biter. After a head-to-head finish in the last weeks Boca Juniors took the trophy home. Gimnasia de La Plata will have to wait for their first-ever championship. The 2005–06 Argentine First Division Clausura saw Boca Juniors become the first team since River Plate in 1999–2000 to win the Apertura and the Clausura in the same season. This capped an amazing year for Boca, as they won every tournament they were eligible (they were not eligible for the Copa Libertadores after a dismal Clausura last season). Lanús were the big surprise of the Clausura, as they finished second in the league. Boca also achieved 80 points in a season for the first time since 1998/99 when they scored 89 points.

Football in Argentina
Season2005–06
← 2004–05 Argentina 2006–07 →

Argentina drew one of the most difficult groups in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, advanced to the second round but lost against hosts Germany in the quarter-finals.

After an abysmal season, Instituto and Tiro Federal were relegated to the Nacional B Division a few weeks before the end of the tournament. The next two worst teams in the relegation standings, Argentinos Juniors and Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, played a Promoción playoff (home and away) series against Huracán and Belgrano de Córdoba, respectively, for two spots in next year's Argentine First Division. Argentinos Juniors remains in the top category after drawing with Huracán twice. Olimpo, however, were relegated to Nacional B after losing twice to Belgrano.

Torneo Apertura ("Opening" Tournament)

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Position Team Points Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Difference
1 Boca Juniors 40 19 12 4 3 36 17 19
2 Gimnasia de La Plata 37 19 11 4 4 28 19 9
3 Vélez Sársfield 33 19 10 3 6 26 16 10
4 Independiente 32 19 8 8 3 34 22 12
5 Banfield 28 19 5 13 1 25 15 10
6 River Plate 28 19 8 4 7 31 22 9
7 Estudiantes La Plata 28 19 8 4 7 23 22 1
8 Argentinos Juniors 28 19 8 4 7 19 20 -1
9 San Lorenzo 28 19 8 4 7 33 39 -6
10 Colón de Santa Fe 26 19 7 5 7 28 27 1
11 Racing Club 25 19 7 4 8 28 27 1
12 Olimpo de Bahía Blanca 23 19 5 8 6 19 23 -4
13 Lanús 23 19 5 8 6 21 31 -10
14 Arsenal de Sarandí 22 19 5 7 7 23 24 -1
15 Rosario Central 22 19 5 7 7 20 29 -9
16 Newell's Old Boys 20 19 5 5 9 25 27 -2
17 Quilmes 19 19 4 7 8 20 27 -7
18 Gimnasia de Jujuy 18 19 3 9 7 23 30 -7
19 Tiro Federal 15 19 4 3 12 22 31 -9
20 Instituto 15 19 2 9 8 11 27 -16

Top Scorers

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Position Player Team Goals
1 Javier Cámpora Tiro Federal 13
2 Leonardo Pisculichi Argentinos Juniors 10
2 Rodrigo Palacio Boca Juniors 10
2 Gonzalo Vargas Gimnasia de La Plata 10
2 José Luis Calderón Estudiantes de La Plata 10
3 Nicolás Frutos Independiente 9
3 Sergio Agüero Independiente 9
3 Iván Moreno y Fabianesi Colón de Santa Fe 9
4 Ezequiel Lavezzi San Lorenzo 8

Relegation

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There is no relegation after the Apertura. For the relegation results of this tournament see below.

Torneo Clausura ("Closing" Tournament)

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Position Team Points Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Difference
1 Boca Juniors 43 19 13 4 2 37 14 23
2 Lanús 35 19 10 5 4 26 15 11
3 River Plate 34 19 9 7 3 39 24 15
4 Gimnasia de Jujuy 33 19 10 3 6 26 16 10
5 Gimnasia de La Plata 32 19 9 5 5 31 22 9
6 Newell's Old Boys 31 19 8 7 4 27 18 9
7 Banfield 31 19 10 1 8 28 22 6
8 San Lorenzo 28 19 7 7 5 15 14 1
9 Olimpo 26 19 7 5 7 22 22 0
10 Vélez Sársfield 25 19 5 10 4 21 18 3
11 Estudiantes La Plata 24 19 6 6 7 25 31 -6
12 Independiente 23 19 6 5 8 18 18 0
13 Rosario Central 23 19 5 8 6 15 17 -2
14 Argentinos Juniors 22 19 5 7 7 26 28 -2
15 Arsenal de Sarandí 22 19 5 7 7 17 20 -3
16 Colón de Santa Fe 20 19 5 5 9 19 26 -7
17 Quilmes 20 19 5 5 9 11 28 -17
18 Racing Club 19 19 5 4 10 14 24 -10
19 Instituto 13 19 3 4 12 16 37 -21
20 Tiro Federal 12 19 3 3 13 15 39 -24

Top Scorers

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Position Player Team Goals
1 Gonzalo Vargas Gimnasia de La Plata 12
2 Ernesto Farías River Plate 11
2 Martín Palermo Boca Juniors 11
3 Ignacio Scocco Newell's Old Boys 9
3 Sergio Agüero Independiente 9
4 Silvio Carrario Quilmes 7
4 Ezequiel Maggiolo Olimpo de Bahia Blanca 7
4 Rodrigo Palacio Boca Juniors 7

Relegation

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Team Average Points Played 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Boca Juniors 1.807 206 114 75/38 48/38 83/37
River Plate 1.649 188 114 66/38 60/38 62/37
Vélez Sársfield 1.614 184 114 53/38 73/38 58/38
Banfield 1.596 182 114 64/38 59/38 59/38
San Lorenzo 1.491 170 114 62/38 52/38 56/38
Newell's Old Boys 1.421 162 114 51/38 60/38 51/38
Gimnasia de La Plata 1.412 161 114 38/38 54/38 69/38
Estudiantes de La Plata 1.377 157 114 44/38 61/38 52/38
Lanús 1.351 154 114 42/38 54/38 58/38
Arsenal de Sarandí 1.342 153 114 55/38 54/38 43/38
Gimnasia de Jujuy 1.342 51 38 N/A N/A 51/38
Racing Club 1.333 152 114 50/38 58/38 44/38
Rosario Central 1.316 150 114 44/38 61/38 45/38
Independiente 1.298 148 114 44/38 49/38 55/38
Colón de Santa Fe 1.298 148 114 49/38 53/38 46/38
Quilmes 1.265 143 114 60/38 44/38 39/38
Argentinos Juniors 1.224 93 76 N/A 43/38 50/38
Olimpo de Bahía Blanca 1.149 131 114 39/38 43/38 49/38
Instituto 0.921 70 76 N/A 42/38 28/38
Tiro Federal 0.711 27 38 N/A N/A 27/38

"Promoción" playoff

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Date Home Away Result
May 31, 2006 Huracán Argentinos Juniors 1 - 1
June 4, 2006 Argentinos Juniors Huracán 2 - 2

Argentinos Juniors remains in the Argentine First Division after a 3 - 3 aggregate tie by virtue of a "sports advantage". In case of a tie in goals, the team from the First Division gets to stay in it.

Date Home Away Result
May 31, 2006 Belgrano de Córdoba Olimpo de Bahia Blanca 2 - 1
June 4, 2006 Olimpo de Bahia Blanca Belgrano de Córdoba 1 - 2

Belgrano de Córdoba wins 4-2 and is promoted to Argentine First Division. Olimpo de Bahia Blanca is relegated to the Argentine Nacional B.

Lower leagues

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Level Tournament Champion
2nd Primera B Nacional Apertura
Primera B Nacional Clausura
Godoy Cruz
Nueva Chicago
3rd Primera B Metropolitana Platense
3rd (Interior) Torneo Argentino A Villa Mitre
4th Primera C Metropolitana Deportivo Merlo
5th Primera D Metropolitana Ituzaingó

Clubs in international competitions

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Team / Competition 2005 Recopa Sudamericana 2005 Copa Sudamericana 2006 Copa Libertadores
Boca Juniors Champions
defeated
  Once Caldas
Champions
defeated
  UNAM
did not qualify
Vélez Sársfield did not play Semifinal
eliminated by
  UNAM
Quarterfinals
eliminated by
  Guadalajara
Estudiantes de La Plata did not play First stage
eliminated by
  Banfield
Quarterfinals
eliminated by
  São Paulo
River Plate did not play Round of 16
eliminated by
  Corinthians
Quarterfinals
eliminated by
  Libertad
Newell's Old Boys did not play First stage
eliminated by
  Rosario Central
Round of 16
eliminated by
  Vélez Sársfield
Rosario Central did not play Round of 16
eliminated by
  Internacional
Group Stage
eliminated
(finished last in the group)

National team

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This section covers Argentina's matches from August 1, 2005, to July 31, 2006.

  Win   Draw   Loss

Friendly matches

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August 17, 2005 Hungary   1 – 2   Argentina Budapest, Hungary
17:30 UTC+01 Torghelle   29' (Report) Rodríguez   17'
Heinze   63'
Stadium: Stadium Puskás Ferenc
November 12, 2005 England   3 – 2   Argentina Geneva, Switzerland
Rooney   39'
Owen   86', 90+2'
(Report) Crespo   35'
Ayala   54'
Stadium: Stade de Genève
Attendance: 29,000
Referee: Philippe Leuba (Switzerland)
November 16, 2005 Qatar   0 – 3   Argentina Doha, Qatar
17:30 UTC+03 (Report) Riquelme   70'
Ayala   73'
Cruz   73'
Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium
Referee: Philippe Leuba (Switzerland)
March 1, 2006 Croatia   3 – 2   Argentina Basel, Switzerland
21:15 UTC+01 Klasnić   3'
Srna   52'
Šimić   90+2'
(Report) Tevez   4'
Messi   6'
Stadium: St. Jakob-Park
Attendance: 13,138
Referee: Markus Nobs (Switzerland)
May 30, 2006 Argentina   2 – 0   Angola Salerno, Italy
21:00 UTC+01 Rodríguez   28'
Sorín   36'
(Report) Stadium: Stadio Arechi
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Stefano Farina (Italy)

2006 World Cup qualifiers

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September 3, 2005 Round 16 Paraguay   1 – 0   Argentina Asunción, Paraguay
17:00 UTC-04 Santa Cruz   14' (Report) Stadium: Estadio Defensores del Chaco
Attendance: 32,000
Referee: Carlos Eugênio Simon (Brazil)
October 9, 2005 Round 17 Argentina   2 – 0   Peru Buenos Aires, Argentina
19:10 UTC-04 Riquelme   81' (pen.)
Guadalupe   90' (o.g.)
(Report) Stadium: Estadio Antonio V. Liberti
Attendance: 36,977
Referee: Carlos Torres (Paraguay)
October 12, 2005 Round 18 Uruguay   1 – 0   Argentina Montevideo, Uruguay
22:30 UTC-03 Recoba   46' (Report) Stadium: Estadio Centenario
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: Wilson de Souza (Brazil)

2006 World Cup

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June 10, 2006 Group stage Argentina   2 – 1   Ivory Coast Hamburg, Germany
21:00 UTC+01 Crespo   24'
Saviola   38'
(Report) Drogba   82' Stadium: FIFA WM Stadion Hamburg
Attendance: 49,480
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
June 16, 2006 Group stage Argentina   6 – 0   Serbia and Montenegro Gelsenkirchen, Germany
15:00 UTC+01 Rodríguez   6', 41'
Cambiasso   31'
Crespo   78'
Tevez   84'
Messi   88'
(Report) Stadium: FIFA WM Stadion Gelsenkirchen
Attendance: 52,000
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)
June 21, 2006 Group stage Netherlands   0 – 0   Argentina Frankfurt, Germany
21:00 UTC+01 (Report) Stadium: FIFA WM Stadion Frankfurt
Attendance: 48,000
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)
June 24, 2006 Round of 16 Argentina   2 – 1 (a.e.t.)   Mexico Leipzig, Germany
21:00 UTC+01 Crespo   10'
Rodríguez   98'
(Report) Márquez   6' Stadium: Zentralstadion
Attendance: 43,000
Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)
June 30, 2006 Quarter-finals Germany   1 – 1 (a.e.t.)
(4 – 2 p)
  Argentina Berlin, Germany
17:00 UTC+01 Klose   80' (Report) Ayala   49' Stadium: Olympiastadion
Attendance: 72,000
Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)
Penalties
Neuville  
Ballack  
Podolski  
Borowski  
  Cruz
  Ayala
  Rodríguez
  Cambiasso
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