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.
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)
PositionTeamPointsPlayedWonDrawnLostForAgainstDifference1Boca Juniors 40191243361719 2Gimnasia de La Plata37191144281993Vélez Sársfield331910362616104Independiente32198833422125Banfield281951312515106River Plate2819847312297Estudiantes La Plata 2819847232218Argentinos Juniors28198471920 -19San Lorenzo28198473339 -610Colón de Santa Fe 26197572827111Racing Club25197482827112Olimpo de Bahía Blanca23195861923 -413Lanús23195862131 -1014Arsenal de Sarandí 22195772324 -115Rosario Central22195772029 -916Newell's Old Boys 20195592527 -217Quilmes19194782027 -718Gimnasia de Jujuy18193972330 -719Tiro Federal151943122231 -9 20Instituto15192981127 -16
Top Scorers
PositionPlayerTeamGoals1Javier CámporaTiro Federal132Leonardo PisculichiArgentinos Juniors102Rodrigo PalacioBoca Juniors102Gonzalo VargasGimnasia de La Plata102José Luis CalderónEstudiantes de La Plata103Nicolás FrutosIndependiente93Sergio AgüeroIndependiente93Iván Moreno y FabianesiColón de Santa Fe94Ezequiel LavezziSan Lorenzo8
Relegation
There is no relegation after the Apertura. For the relegation results of this tournament see below.
Torneo Clausura ("Closing" Tournament)
PositionTeamPointsPlayedWonDrawnLostForAgainstDifference 1 Boca Juniors 43 19 13 4 2 37 14 23 2 Lanús 35 19 10 5 4 26 15 11 3River 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
PositionPlayerTeamGoals 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
TeamAveragePointsPlayed2003-042004-052005-06 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
DateHomeAwayResult 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.
DateHomeAwayResult 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
LevelTournamentChampion 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
Team / Competition2005 Recopa Sudamericana2005 Copa Sudamericana2006 Copa LibertadoresBoca JuniorsChampions defeated Once CaldasChampions defeated UNAM did not qualifyVélez Sársfield Did not playSemifinal eliminated by UNAMQuarterfinals eliminated by GuadalajaraEstudiantes de La Plata Did not playFirst stage eliminated by BanfieldQuarterfinals eliminated by São PauloRiver Plate Did not playRound of 16 eliminated by CorinthiansQuarterfinals eliminated by LibertadNewell's Old Boys Did not playFirst stage eliminated by Rosario CentralRound of 16 eliminated by Vélez SársfieldRosario Central Did not playRound of 16 eliminated by InternacionalGroup Stage eliminated(finished last in the group)
National team This section covers Argentina's matches from August 1, 2005, to July 31, 2006.
Friendly matches
2006 World Cup qualifiers
2006 World Cup
External links AFA Argentina on FIFA.com Argentina 2005–2006 by Juan Pablo Andrés at RSSSF.