Cerro Porteño

 

Cerro Porteño was founded on 1 October 1912 by Susana Núñez and a group of young people looking to create a new football club. At the time of Cerro's foundation, the situation in Paraguay was tense with instability in the government caused by the fervent rivalries between the two leading political parties, the Partido Colorado (Crimson Party) and the Partido Liberal (Liberal Party).

 

Because of the tensions, the founders of the club decided to use the colours of both parties, red (Colorados) and blue (Liberals), as the club's colours as a symbol of unity and friendship between Paraguayans. Later, white was used on the shorts to incorporate all the colours of the Paraguayan flag.

 

The club owes its name to the battle fought between the forces of Buenos Aires, Argentina (The Porteños) and the Paraguayan army, in the neighbourhood of the Cerro Mbaé (Mbaé Hill) – named after that battle as the Cerro Porteño (Porteño Hill) – on 19 January 1811. During that battle, the troops of Paraguay (at that time a Spanish colony) were abandoned by the Spanish governor but continued to be led by the Paraguayan officials, who led them to a great victory against the Porteño's troops. That battle is known as the "Battle of Cerro Porteño" and is a highlight of Paraguayan military history.^{[citation needed]}

 

Over the years the club has won a significant number of national championships. However, to date, it has not won any international tournaments despite a few good runs in the Copa Libertadores including semi-final appearances in 1973, 1978, 1993, 1998, 1999 and 2011.

 

Osvaldo Ardiles joined the club as manager in May 2008, but was sacked in August of the same year after a string of poor results and was replaced by Pedro Troglio.^[3]

 

In 2014, Cerro Porteño president Juan José Zapag spoke in reference to the corruption in Paraguayan football that various persons had complained to him about not buying games and that if his club were to win then they would not do it by buying and doping players to become champions.^[4]

Cerro Porteño's stadium, Estadio General Pablo Rojas, also known as "La Nueva Olla" or "La Olla", is located in Asunción's Obrero neighborhood. It has a seating capacity of 45,000, making it the biggest in Paraguay.

• Copa Libertadores: 45 appearances

Best: 1973, 1978, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2011 (Semi-finals)

• Copa Sudamericana: 11 appearances

Best: 2009, 2016 (Semi-finals)

• Primera División
  • Champions (34): 1913, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1944, 1950, 1954, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2009 Apertura, 2012 Apertura, 2013 Clausura, 2015 Apertura, 2017 Clausura, 2020 Apertura, 2021 Clausura

• Torneo República
  • Winners (3): 1989, 1991, 1995

• Plaqueta Millington Drake
  • Winners (2): 1949, 1950

As of 21 March 2024.

Rank	Country	Team
45		Aston Villa
46		Panathinaikos
47		Cerro Porteño
48		Atlético Nacional
49		Monaco

As of 21 March 2024.

Rank	Country	Team
12		Estudiantes de La Plata
13		Cruzeiro
14		Cerro Porteño
15		Atlético Nacional
16		Racing

As of 13 September 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ARG Alexis Martín Arias 2 DF   PAR Alan Benítez 4 DF   BRA Eduardo Brock 5 DF   PAR Jorge Morel 6 MF   COL Rafael Carrascal 7 MF   PAR Enzo Giménez 8 MF   ARG Federico Carrizo 9 FW   BRA Chico 10 FW   PAR Cecilio Domínguez 11 FW   PAR Juan Iturbe 12 GK   PAR Miguel Martínez 13 GK   BRA Jean 14 DF   PAR Lucas Quintana 15 DF   PAR Rodrigo Melgarejo 16 FW   PAR Édgar Páez 17 FW   PAR Gabriel Aguayo 18 DF   PAR Bruno Valdez (on loan from Boca Juniors) 19 FW   ARG Diego Churín (captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF   PAR Wilder Viera 21 FW   ARG Sergio Araujo 22 FW   PAR Derlis Rodríguez 24 DF   PAR Cristian Báez 25 GK   PAR Antonio Martínez 26 MF   PAR Robert Piris Da Motta 28 MF   PAR Alexis Fariña 29 DF   PAR Enzo Cabrera 30 DF   PAR Alan Núñez 31 DF   PAR Luis Vargas 32 DF   PAR Víctor Cabañas 34 DF   PAR Miguel Benítez 35 DF   PAR Ronaldo de Jesús 36 FW   PAR Luis Olmedo 37 DF   PAR Diego León 38 DF   PAR Tobías Marecos 39 FW   PAR Tobias Portillo 40 FW   PAR Fernando Fernández

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF   PAR Rodrigo Delvalle (at Sol de América until 31 December 2024) — DF   PAR Daniel Rivas (at Nacional until 31 December 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   PAR Ángel Cardozo Lucena (at Libertad until 31 December 2024) — MF   PAR Antonio Galeano (at Nacional until 31 December 2025)

To appear in this section a player must have either:

• Played at least 125 games for the club.
• Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club.
• Been part of a national team squad at any time.
• Played in the first division of any other football association (outside of Paraguay).
• Played in a continental and/or intercontinental competition.

Non-CONMEBOL players

•   Adriano Custódio Mendes (1988)^[7]
•   Jerry Laterza (1994–95)
•   William Inganga (1996)^[8]
•   Tobie Mimboe (1996)
•   Geremi Njitap (1997)
•   Cyrille Florent Bella (1998)
•   Kenneth Nkweta Nju (2000–01)^[9]
•   Nozomi Hiroyama (2001)
•   Froylán Ledezma (2001–02)
•   Diego Madrigal (2011)
•   Daniel Güiza (2013–15)
•   Luís Leal (2016–17)

Most appearances for the club (in all competitions):

1. Julio Dos Santos: 267
2. Jorge Achucarro: 257
3. Aldo Bobadilla: 265
4. Estanislao Struway: 227

Most goals for the club (in all competitions):

1. Virgilio Ferreira: 90
2. Julio Dos Santos: 88
3. Erwin Ávalos: 70
4. Saturnino Arrua: 88
5. José Vinsac: 58

Most appearances for the club (in league):

1. Salvador Breglia: 225
2. Jorge Achucarro: 215
3. Julio Dos Santos: 212
4. Blas Marcelo Cristaldo: 201

Most goals for the club (in league):

1. Virgilio Ferreira: 67
2. Erwin Ávalos: 64
3. José Vinsac: 58
4. Saturnino Arrua: 55

Most appearances for the club (in international cup):

1. Aldo Bobadilla: 67
2. Estanislao Struway: 64
3. Virgilio Ferreira: 61
4. Blas Marcelo Cristaldo: 57

Most goals for the club (in international cup):

1. Virgilio Ferreira: 23
2. Santiago Salcedo: 15
3. Celino Mora: 14
4. César Ramírez: 13

The women's team has won the Paraguayan women's football championship four times, in 2007 and 2012 to 2014.^[10] The team then played in the Copa Libertadores Femenina.

One of the club's youth teams played at the 2006 Torneo di Viareggio.^[11]

The club's futsal division is the best club in the Liga Premium de Futsal, the premier professional futsal clubs league of the country, having won all of its seven editions as of 2023, for which they are known as "Los Dueños del Futsal" (The King of Futsal).^[12]

• Cerro Porteño on Instagram
• Official website
• Cerro Porteño: Results, schedule, players and matches