The 2011–12 C.D. Motagua season in the Honduran Liga Nacional was F.C. Motagua's 61st season in its history; the domestic league was divided into two tournaments, Apertura and Clausura. The Apertura started on 7 August, but due to its participation in the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League, their first official game was played on 28 July 2011.CONCACAF.com–Seven clinch berths in Champions League –16 May 2011 Motagua, as title holders, were looking for its 13th domestic championship, and its first CONCACAF achievement. The pre-season started on 20 June 2011.LaTribunaDeportiva.hn–El campeón se presenta en Catacamas –22 May 2011LaTribuna.hn–Azules pasan pruebas físicas y médicas–20 June 2011
Overview The club announced its first signing on 29 April 2011, Honduran striker Luis López arrived for a one-year contract.RadioAmericahn.net–Motagua ficha por un año al "Comayagua" López –29 April 2011 Also, 37-year-old goalkeeper Kerpo de León joined after a prominent performance at C.D.S. Vida. On 3 June, Honduran midfielder Carlos Discua was transferred from Guatemalan side C.S.D. Comunicaciones.LaPrensa.hn–"Chino" Discua a Motagua –3 June 2011 In the evening of 15 June 2011, midfielder Jorge Claros was shot twice in the head and clavicle by two unidentified persons who tried to steal his car in a neighbor in San Pedro Sula, Claros escaped injured but in a stable condition.LaPrensa.hn–Jorge Claros, operado con éxito tras atentado –16 June 2011 On 22 August, the club signed 22-year-old Colombian striker John Palacios from ASA.LaPrensa.hn–Llegó el delantero colombiano de Motagua –22 August 2011
Motagua's first game in the league was on 7 August at Estadio Fausto Flores Lagos against C.D. Necaxa losing 0–1.Diez.hn–Necaxa le estrenó la corona a Motagua–7 August 2011 On 16 September, due to poor performance both in the league and the Champions League, the club's president Pedro Atala took the decision to separate Ramón Maradiaga as manager;Diez.hn–Primitivo Maradiaga, fuera del Motagua –16 August 2011 leaving Luis Reyes as a temporary replacement. Three days later, on 19 September, Mexican coach José Treviño arrived as new manager for the rest of the season;RadioHRN.hn–Pepe Treviño es el nuevo entrenador de Motagua –19 September 2011 while Colombian striker John Palacios left the team just one month after his signing arguing differences with teammates.LaTribunaDeportiva.hn–Palacios abandonó a Motagua –19 September 2011
On 22 September, the club released a pink jersey to be worn on all the games from October, in a way to support the fight against breast cancer.Diez.hn–"Estoy ilusionado de regresar a Motagua"–22 September 2011 On 3 October, striker Jerry Bengtson appeared 50th on The World's Top Goal Scorer 2011 list published by the IFFHS.IFFHS.de–The World's Top Goal Scorer 2011 –3 October 2011 On 11 October, the Disciplinary Commission forced Motagua to play its home game against C.D. Marathón in a neutral venue due to the incidents occurred on 9 October at the Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino in the Honduran Superclásico against C.D. Olimpia where one unidentified Motagua fan throw an object to the field injuring rival's player Carlos Mejía at the end of the match;Tiempo.hn–Motagua multado y castigado con un juego –11 October 2011 however, Motagua appeal to the decision and the penalization was revoked on 13 October.LaPrensa.hn–Levantan la sanción al estadio Nacional–13 October 2011
On 19 November, Motagua was eliminated from the postseason despite winning the last four games in a row;LaTribuna.hn–Motagua murió con las botas puestas –19 October 2011 this disqualification was the 13th in Motagua's history.
The Clausura tournament was scheduled to be played from January to May 2012. Manager José Treviño declared interest in signing Brazilian striker José Dias but later desisted; the club announced on 5 December 2011 to have signed Honduran strikers Georgie Welcome and Melvin Valladares who came from Mexican clubs Club Atlas and Dorados de Sinaloa respectively. One day later Arnold Peralta also joined from C.D.S. Vida but due to wages disagreements, the midfielder refused to sign. The Clausura fixtures were announced on 8 December, and Motagua faced C.D. Necaxa away on round 1.LaPrensa.hn–La Liga Nacional define el calendario del Torneo Clausura 2012–8 December 2011
In December 2011, the IFFHS published a list of "The World's Top Goal Scorer 2011", and Motagua's striker Jerry Bengtson appeared in the list ranked 24th.IFFHS.de–The World's Top Goal Scorer 2011 –31 December 2011
Motagua initiated the Clausura tournament with a 2–2 away draw against Necaxa at Estadio Fausto Flores Lagos.ElHeraldo.hn–Necaxa sacó la garra y rescata un punto ante Motagua –8 January 2012 In round 12, Motagua defeated Real C.D. España 2–0 at Tegucigalpa, breaking their own 1974 record for the longest unbeaten start in a season,LaPrensa.hn–Motagua supera invicto de 1974 –20 March 2012 streak that lasted until 5 May totaling 19 games undefeated. The qualification to the second round was acquired on 14 April at Estadio Yankel Rosenthal in the 0–1 away victory over C.D. Marathón.Hondurasfutbol.com–Motagua enrumba a la punta y estanca de nuevo al Marathón Motagua won two more games after that and became the second team in the history of the league that finished the regular season without defeats; C.D. Olimpia had already done it twice in 1969–70 and 1997–98 Clausura.ElHeraldo.hn–A definir posición para la liguilla del Clausura–21 April 2012
As second placed at the end of the regular season, Motagua obtained an automatic ticket to the semifinals; the opponent was decided from the previous round, where Marathón beat Vida. Once in the semifinals, Motagua were unable to surpass Marathón and lost 0–2 on aggregate score,LaPrensa.hn–Marathón ahoga al Motagua y es el primer finalista en Honduras –5 May 2012 this being the second consecutive time that they were prematurely eliminated. With only one defeat in the season, Motagua matched the records obtained in 1973–74 and 1999–2000 A. Also, due to great performance from both goalkeepers Donaldo Morales and Kerpo de León, Motagua broke its own record of fewest goals conceded in a season, with only 12; the previous record was 15 conceded goals in 1973–74.
In the Reserves tournament, the youth team captured the 2011–12 Clausura season.Lnphonduras.com–AGUILITAS EN LA CIMA –24 May 2012
Players Transfers in Player Moving from 1 GK Kerpo de León VidaDiez.hn–Kerpo de León, nuevo fichaje de Motagua–27 May 2011 7 MF Carlos Discua Comunicaciones 9 FW Luis López FK Srem 33 FW John Palacios ASA 9 FW Georgie Welcome AtlasLaTribunaDeportiva.hn–Georgie Welcome se queda en Motagua –4 December 2011 10 MF Julio de León Shandong LunengLaPrensa.hn–Motagua sorprende a todos y ficha a Rambo de León por un año –16 January 2012 11 FW Melvin Valladares DoradosElHeraldo.hn–Melvin Valladares, la nueva contratación de Motagua–5 December 2011 12 MF Luis Guzmán NecaxaLaTribunaDeportiva.hn–"Lucho" Guzmán regresa al "nido" –9 December 2011 13 DF Nery Medina NecaxaElHeraldo.hn–Se forma un nuevo ciclón–12 December 2011 21 MF Alfredo Mejía Real España
Transfers out Player Moving to 2 MF Gustavo Alvarado USA college scholarshipLaTribuna.hn–Cruz y Alvarado se van–20 June 2011 6 MF David Álvarez Free agentLaPrensa.hn–Se va Copete y Colingo –7 June 2011 9 FW Mauricio Copete VictoriaLaPrensa.hn–Se va Copete y Colingo –7 June 2011 31 FW Carlos Cruz USA college scholarshipLaTribuna.hn–Cruz y Alvarado se van–20 June 2011 33 FW John Palacios Inti Gas 3 DF René Banegas Deportes SavioElHeraldo.hn–El Heraldo revela la lista negra de "Pepe" Treviño –22 November 2011 5 DF Milton Reyes Retired 8 MF Jorge Claros HibernianSport.stv.tv–Jorge Claros completes Hibernian loan move–31 January 2012 9 FW Luis López Coatepeque 11 MF Guillermo Ramírez Heredia 12 DF Iván Guerrero Chicago FireDiez.hn–Iván Guerrero deja al Motagua–22 November 2011 13 MF Mario Girón Atlético Choloma 15 DF Brayan García TBD 21 FW Aly Arriola Deportes Savio 29 MF Jorge Escobar TBD 30 FW Marty Wood TBD
Squad Statistics as of 5 May 2012 Only league matches into account Player name Date of birth and age Games played Goals scored 1 GK Kerpo de León 0 18 18 0 0 0 2 DF Odis Borjas 21 30 51 0 0 0 DF René Banegas 0 0 0 0 0 0 MF Héctor García 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 DF Júnior Izaguirre 236 32 268 31 1 32 5 DF Milton Reyes 284 7 291 4 0 4 6 MF Emilson Cruz 19 10 29 0 0 0 7 MF Carlos Discua 0 30 30 0 8 8 8 MF Jorge Claros 150 14 164 5 1 6 FW Luis López 0 7 7 0 0 0 FW Georgie Welcome 76 6 82 28 1 29 / MF Carlos Morán 9 15 24 1 1 2 MF Julio de León 0 13 13 0 2 2 MF Guillermo Ramírez 16 8 24 3 0 3 FW Melvin Valladares 0 16 16 0 0 0 DF Iván Guerrero 195 15 210 5 0 5 DF Luís Guzmán – 1 – 5 0 5 MF Mario Girón 12 4 16 1 0 1 DF Nery Medina – 11 – 6 0 6 14 FW Roby Norales 0 15 15 0 4 4 15 DF Brayan García 0 5 5 0 0 0 16 DF Johnny Leverón 52 17 69 5 1 6 17 MF Júnior Padilla 0 18 18 0 2 2 18 MF Roger Mondragón 14 1 15 1 0 1 19 DF Henry Figueroa 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 MF Amado Guevara 192 33 225 60 4 64 FW Aly Arriola 13 6 19 1 0 1 MF Alfredo Mejía 0 7 7 0 0 0 22 GK Donaldo Morales 75 19 94 0 0 0 23 DF Sergio Mendoza 51 28 79 3 1 4 24 DF Omar Elvir 26 20 46 0 0 0 25 GK Marlon Licona 9 2 11 0 0 0 / DF David Molina 49 28 77 3 1 4 MF Grodbin Benítez 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 FW Jerry Bengtson 22 32 54 15 11 26 28 MF Adán Ramírez 20 17 37 2 0 2 MF Jorge Escobar 5 0 5 0 0 0 MF Alejandro Aguiluz 6 0 6 1 0 1 30 FW Marty Wood 0 1 1 0 0 0 31 DF Esdras Padilla 35 4 39 0 0 0 32 MF Ronald Martínez 18 21 39 1 1 2 FW John Palacios 0 3 3 0 0 0 GK Harold Fonseca 0 0 0 0 0 0 35 FW Javier Norales 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 MF Brayan Figueroa 0 0 0 0 0 0 52 MF Marvin Barrios 0 5 5 0 1 1 / MF Mishek Ávila 0 10 10 0 1 1 – DF Yeer Gutiérrez 0 0 0 0 0 0 Managers Ramón Maradiaga Luis Reyes José Treviño
Results Preseason and friendlies
Apertura
Clausura
CONCACAF Champions League
As 2010–11 Clausura league champions, F.C. Motagua qualified to the Preliminary round of the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League. On 24 June 2011, CONCACAF announced the first stage schedule which paired Motagua against C.S.D. Municipal.CONCACAF.com–San Francisco-Seattle to open Champions League –24 June 2011 On 4 August 2011, Motagua advanced to the Group phase after a 4–2 score on aggregate over Municipal.CONCACAF.com–Motagua reaches CCL Group Stage despite loss –4 August 2011 Once in the Group phase, things went upside down for Motagua and on 22 September, they were mathematically eliminated from quarterfinal contention after losing 0–2 against Monarcas Morelia at Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino.CONCACAF.com–Morelia eliminates Motagua from CCL 2-0 –22 September 2011 At the end of the group phase, Motagua not only were eliminated, but finished last with zero points with a sixth straight loss.CONCACAF.com–Galaxy completes CCL quarterfinal field –20 October 2011
References
External links Motagua official website