1997–98 Torneo Grandes de Centroamérica

The 1998 Torneo Grandes de Centroamérica was the 16th edition of the UNCAF Club Tournament and the third and last under this name. Costa Rican Deportivo Saprissa obtained its 4th regional title.

1998 Torneo Grandes de Centroamérica

Tournament details
Dates	29 October 1997 – 23 September 1998
Teams	9 (from 4 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Saprissa (4th title)
Runners-up	Municipal
Tournament statistics
Matches played	28
Goals scored	50 (1.79 per match)
← 1997 1999 →

Teams

Association	Team	Qualifying method	App.	Previous best
Costa Rica	Saprissa	1996–97 Runners-up	12th	Champions (1972, 1973, 1978)
	Herediano	1996–97 Semifinalist	6th	3rd (1971, 1975)
El Salvador	Águila	1996–97 Regular season winners	10th	Runners-up (1973)
Guatemala	Comunicaciones	1996–97 Champions	15th	Champions (1971, 1983)
	Aurora	1996–97 Runners-up	10th	Champions (1976, 1979)
	Municipal	1996–97 Third place	11th	Champions (1974, 1977)
Honduras	Olimpia	1996–97 Champions	4th	Champions (1981)
	Real España	Invitee	4th	Champions (1982)
	Motagua	Invitee	3rd	Group stage (1979, 1997)

Qualifying

Honduras

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Olimpia	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	4	Advance Final Tournament
2	Real España	2	0	2	0	3	3	0	2
3	Motagua	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1	Advance to Play-offs

Updated to match(es) played on 8 October 1997. Source: Diario Diez
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Motagua v Real España

17 September 1997	Motagua	1–1	Real España
	Roberto Asprilla		Washington Hernández

Olimpia v Real España

1 October 1997	Olimpia	2–2	Real España
	Wilmer Velásquez 76' 78'		TBD TBD

Motagua v Olimpia

8 October 1997	Motagua	0–1	Olimpia	Tegucigalpa
19:30 CST	Nil		Wilmer Velásquez 55'	Stadium: Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino Referee: Nelson Cálix (HON)

Play-off

Motagua v Comunicaciones

29 October 1997 1st leg	Motagua	0–0	Comunicaciones	Tegucigalpa, Honduras
	Nil		Nil	Stadium: Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino

Comunicaciones v Motagua

6 November 1997 2nd leg	Comunicaciones	0–0 (0–0 agg.) (3–4 p)	Motagua	Guatemala City, Guatemala
	Nil		Nil	Stadium: Estadio Mateo Flores

Group phase

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Municipal	6	4	1	1	8	4	+4	14[a]	Qualified to Semifinals
2	Olimpia	6	4	0	2	11	7	+4	12
3	Herediano	6	3	0	3	8	5	+3	9
4	Águila	6	0	1	5	2	13	−11	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. Municipal one (+1) point added

As of 17 December 1997

Home \ Away	ÁGU	HER	MUN	OLI
Águila		0–2	1–1	0–3
Herediano	3–0		0–1	2–1
Municipal	2–0	1–0		1–0
Olimpia	2–1	2–1	3–2

Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

• Águila 2–3 Municipal on penalty shootouts.

Águila v Herediano

October 22, 1997	Águila	0-2	Herediano
	Nil		Rolando Corella 50' Marcelo Saravia 58'	Attendance: 3,166

Olimpia v Municipal

October 23, 1997	Olimpia	3-2	Municipal
	TBD		TBD

Herediano v Olimpia

October 29, 1997	Herediano	2-1	Olimpia
	TBD		TBD

Municipal v Águila

October 29, 1997	Municipal	2-0	Águila
	TBD		Nil

Municipal v Herediano

November 5, 1997	Municipal	1-0	Herediano
	Ariel Beltramo 71'		Nil

Águila v Olimpia

December 4, 1997	Águila	0-3	Olimpia
	Nil		TBD TBD TBD

Herediano v Águila

November 13, 1997	Herediano	v	Águila
	TBD		TBD

Municipal v Olimpia

November 13, 1997	Municipal	1-0	Olimpia
	TBD		Nil

Olimpia v Herediano

November 19, 1997	Olimpia	2-1	Herediano
	TBD TBD		TBD

Águila v Municipal

November 19, 1997	Águila	1-1	Municipal
	TBD		TBD

Herediano v Municipal

December 10, 1997	Herediano	0-1	Municipal
	Nil		TBD

Olimpia v Águila

December 17, 1997	Olimpia	2-1	Águila
	TBD TBD		TBD

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saprissa	6	2	3	1	6	3	+3	11[a]	Qualified to Semifinals
2	Real España	5	2	3	0	2	0	+2	11[b]
3	Aurora	5	0	3	2	2	6	−4	5[c]
4	Motagua	4	0	3	1	2	3	−1	3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. Saprissa two (+2) points added
2. Real España two (+2) points added
3. Aurora two (+2) points added

As of 11 December 1997

Home \ Away	AUR	MOT	RES	SAP
Aurora		1–1	0–0	1–4
Motagua				1–1
Real España	1–0	0–0		1–0
Saprissa	0–0	1–0	0–0

Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

• Saprissa 4–3 Aurora on penalty shootouts.
• Motagua 3–4 Saprissa on penalty shootouts.
• Saprissa 3–5 Real España on penalty shootouts.
• Aurora 4–2 Motagua on penalty shootouts.
• Saprissa 3–5 Real España on penalty shootouts.
• Real España 5–4 Motagua on penalty shootouts.
• Aurora 5–3 Real España on penalty shootouts.
• Motagua's remaining matches were not played.

Real España v Saprissa

October 29, 1997	Real España	1-0	Saprissa
	TBD		Nil

Motagua v Aurora

October 29, 1997	Motagua	v	Aurora
	TBD		TBD

Saprissa v Aurora

November 6, 1997	Saprissa	0-0	Aurora
	Nil		Nil

Motagua v Real España

November 6, 1997	Motagua	v	Real España
	TBD		TBD

Real España v Aurora

November 12, 1997	Real España	1-0	Aurora
	Mario Rodríguez		Nil

Motagua v Saprissa

November 12, 1997	Motagua	1-1	Saprissa
	Amado Guevara 32'		Alejandro Larrea 18'

Saprissa v Real España

November 20, 1997	Saprissa	0-0	Real España
	Nil		Nil

Aurora v Motagua

November 20, 1997	Aurora	1-1	Motagua
	TBD		TBD

Aurora v Saprissa

November 26, 1997	Aurora	1-4	Saprissa
	TBD		TBD TBD TBD TBD

Real España v Motagua

November 29, 1997	Real España	0-0	Motagua
	Nil		Nil

Aurora v Real España

December 3, 1997	Aurora	0-0	Real España
	Nil		Nil

Saprissa v Motagua

December 11, 1997	Saprissa	1-0	Motagua
	Wright

Final round

Semifinals

Real España v Municipal

18 February 1998 1st leg	Real España	0 – 1	Municipal	San Pedro Sula, Honduras
	Nil		César Trijillo	Stadium: Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano

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Municipal v Real España

25 February 1998 2nd leg	Municipal	2 – 1	Real España	Guatemala City, Guatemala
	Ronald Gómez Ariel Beltrano		Tedy Martínez	Stadium: Estadio Mateo Flores

• Municipal won 3–1 on aggregate score.

Olimpia v Saprissa

19 August 1998 1st leg	Olimpia	v	Saprissa	Tegucigalpa, Honduras
				Stadium: Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino

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Saprissa v Olimpia

23 August 1998 2nd leg	Saprissa	v	Olimpia	San José, Costa Rica
				Stadium: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá

• The last suggested dates by Saprissa for the semifinals (19 and 23 August) were not accepted by Olimpia due to league obligations. UNCAF decided to award Saprissa a walkover.

Final

Saprissa v Municipal

18 September 1998 1st leg	Saprissa	2 – 1	Municipal	San José, Costa Rica
				Stadium: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá

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Municipal v Saprissa

23 September 1998 2nd leg	Municipal	1 – 1	Saprissa	Guatemala City, Guatemala
				Stadium: Estadio Mateo Flores

• Saprissa won 3–2 on aggregate score.

Torneo Grandes de Centroamérica 1998 champion
Saprissa 4th title