Club Guaraní

Club Guaraní is a Paraguayan professional football club, based in the neighbourhood of Pinozá in outer Asunción.

Guaraní

Full name	Club Guaraní
Nickname(s)	El Cacique El Legendario El Aborigen
Founded	12 October 1903; 121 years ago (1903-10-12)
Ground	Estadio Rogelio Livieres
Capacity	8,000
Chairman	Emilio Daher
Manager	Francisco Arce
League	Primera División
2024	Primera División, 4th of 12
Website	clubguarani.com.py
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Founded in 1903, it is one of the oldest and one of the most successful in the country, with eleven Primera División titles, and has never been relegated to a lower division.

History

Club Guaraní is the second oldest Paraguayan football club. It was founded on 12 October 1903 under the name of "Football Club Guaraní" and its first president was Juan Patri. The name of the club derives from the Guaraní people, a big part of Paraguayan culture and history. The colours of the club, black and yellow, were proposed by the Melina brothers (also among the founders of the club) in reference to the colours of Uruguayan club Peñarol, where the Melina brothers played for a few years. The mentioned colors were also used by English privateer Francis Drake in his emblem and shield, which is another reason why they were chosen to represent the club.^[1]

The club's stadium

Guaraní is one of the traditional teams from the Paraguayan football league and during their history they have won a total of ten championships and were runners-up in fourteen occasions. The most successful era in their history was in the 1960s, where they had an excellent team that won three titles. This era is known as the "golden decade" by the Guaraní fans.^{[citation needed]}

Along with Olimpia, they play the "clásico añejo" (the oldest derby) because they are the two oldest teams from Paraguay. Also, Guaraní, Cerro Porteño and Olimpia are the only teams that have never played in the second division of the Paraguayan league.

In late May 2010, Guaraní became champions after 26 years after defeating Olimpia 2–1 to clinch the 2010 Apertura title.^[2] The club won its 11th championship in the Clausura 2016 tournmanent.

The club had a good campaign in the 2015 Copa Libertadores, qualifying to the semi-finals after beating Corinthians 3-0 on aggregate in the round of 16,^[3] and Racing Club 1-0 on aggregate.^[4] In the semi-finals, Guarani was eliminated by champions River Plate 3-1 on aggregate.^[5]

In 2018, the club won the inaugural edition of the Copa Paraguay, defeating their classic rival Olimpia on penalties after a 2-2 draw on aggregate.^[6]

The club had good seasons in 2020 and 2021, finishing runner-up to Olimpia and Cerro Porteño respectively.

Youth

One of the club's youth teams played at the 2008 Torneo di Viareggio,^[7] the 2010 Torneo di Viareggio,^[8] the 2012 Torneo di Viareggio^[9] and the 2014 Torneo di Viareggio. The team is also the best-positioned Paraguayan team at the U-20 Copa Libertadores reaching the third place in the 2022 edition.

Honours

National

• Primera División
  • Winners (11): 1906, 1907, 1921, 1923, 1949, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1984, 2010 Apertura, 2016 Clausura
• Copa Paraguay
  • Winners (1): 2018

Players

First-team squad

As of 30 June 2025

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  PAR Alcides Benítez 3 DF  PAR Alcides Barbotte 4 DF  PAR Wilson Ibarrola 5 DF  PAR Mario López 6 MF  PAR Gustavo Marecos 7 MF  PLE Agustín Manzur 8 MF  PAR Aldo Maiz (on loan from Defensa y Justicia) 10 MF  PAR William Mendieta 11 MF  ARG Nicolás Barrientos 12 GK  URU Martín Rodríguez 15 MF  PAR Thiago Servín 16 FW  PAR Victor Cespedes 17 FW  PAR Richard Torales 18 FW  PAR César Miño 19 FW  PAR Alan Romero (on loan from Cerro Porteño) 20 DF  PAR Alexandro Maidana

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  URU Bruno Piñatares 22 FW  PAR Rodrigo Amarilla 23 GK  ARG Gaspar Servio 24 DF  PAR Juan Patiño 25 FW  PAR Antonio Marín 26 MF  PAR Diego Fernández (on loan from Olimpia) 27 DF  PAR Fernando Román 28 MF  PAR Anderson Legüizamón 30 GK  PAR Marcos Giménez 34 FW  PAR Leonardo Rolón 35 FW  PAR Alan Pereira 36 MF  PAR Luis Martínez 37 DF  PAR Daniel Pérez 39 FW  PAR Jesús Alvarenga 40 FW  PAR Fernando Fernández

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  PAR Aldo Pérez (at Ameliano until 31 December 2025) — DF  PAR César Ramírez (at Rubio Ñu until 31 December 2024) — DF  PAR Paul Riveros (at Banfield until 31 December 2025) — DF  ARG Felipe Salomoni (at Al Ain until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  PAR Brahian Fernández (at 2 de Mayo until 31 December 2025) — MF  PAR Víctor Rivarola (at Independiente CG until 31 December 2025) — FW  PAR Milciades Adorno (at Pastoreo until 31 December 2025) — FW  PAR Bruno Díaz (at Guaraní de Fram until 31 December 2025)

Notable players

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 at any time.
• Played in the first division of any other football association (outside of Paraguay).
• Played in a continental and/or intercontinental competition.

1980s

• José Luis Chilavert (1984)

2000s

• Aldo Barreto (2003–04)
• Aureliano Torres (2004–06)
• Federico Santander (2008–10), (2011–12), (2013–15)

2010s

• Marcelo Palau (2012), (2014–)
• Julio César Cáceres (2013–)
• Fernando Fernández (2013–15)
• César Caicedo (2014)^[10]

Non-CONMEBOL players

• Kenji Fukuda (2004)
• Yuki Tamura (2010)^[11]

Average attendance

Year Average 2009 Clausura 1.228 2010 Apertura 2.038 2010 Clausura 1.247 2011 Apertura 1.240 2011 Clausura 1.838 2012 Apertura 2.046 2012 Clausura 1.487 2013 Apertura 1.043 2013 Clausura 1.146 2014 Apertura 1.078 2014 Clausura 794 2015 Apertura 1.184

Managerial information

• Atilio López
• Ondino Viera (1963–64)
• Cayetano Ré (1985)
• Julio Comesaña (1988)
• Oscar Malbernat (1993)
• Rolando Chilavert (1999)
• Cayetano Ré (2000)
• Aníbal Ruiz (2000–01)
• Gustavo Costas (2001–03)
• Carlos Diarte (2003)
• Juan Amador Sánchez (2005)
• Alberto Jose Fanesi (Jan 1, 2006 – Jan 1, 2007)
• Roberto Rojas (2007)
• Félix Darío León (Feb 2008 – Aug 20, 2011)
• Beto Almeida (Aug 23, 2011 – Nov 29, 2011)
• James Freitas (interim) (2011)
• Pablo Caballero (Dec 20, 2011 – July 9, 2012)
• Diego Alonso (July 12, 2012 – June 18, 2013)
• Fernando Jubero (interim) (2013)
• Gustavo Díaz (July 3, 2013 – Aug 6, 2013)
• Fernando Jubero (interim) (Aug 7, 2013 – Dec 10, 2015)
• Fabricio Bassa (Dec 16, 2015–Feb 23, 2016)
• Francisco Arce (Feb 23, 2016–Aug 3, 2016)
• Daniel Garnero (Aug 6, 2016–Dec 7,2017)
• Sebastián Saja (Dec 8, 2017–Mar 26, 2018)
• Fernando Burgo (interim) (2018)
• Juan Manuel Azconzábal (2018)
• Gustavo Florentín (2018–2019)
• Gustavo Costas (2019–2021)
• Fernando Jubero (2021–2022)
• Hernán Rodrigo López (2023)
• Juan Pablo Pumpido (2023)
• Pablo De Muner (2023)
• Lucas Bovaglio (2023–2024)
• Francisco Arce (2024–)

Championship winning managers

Name	Season	Nationality
Salvador Melián	1906
Manuel Bella	1907
Idelfonso López	1921
Idelfonso López	1923
Fulgencio Romaro	1949
Ondino Viera	1964
José María Rodríguez	1967
José María Rodríguez	1969
Cayetano Ré	1984
Félix Darío León	2010
Daniel Garnero	2016