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Club Nacional

Full name	Club Nacional
Nickname(s)	La Academia Tricolor
Founded	5 June 1904; 120 years ago (1904-06-05)
Ground	Estadio Arsenio Erico
Capacity	4,434
Chairman	Juan Carlos Galeano
Manager	Víctor Bernay
League	Primera División
2024	Primera División, 8th of 12
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico.

Internationally, the club is referred to as Nacional Asunción, in order to distinguish itself from Uruguay's Nacional and Colombia's Atlético Nacional.

History

The club was founded on 5 June 1904, by a group of alumni of the Colegio Nacional de la Capital, one of the oldest public schools in Asunción. The club was originally named Nacional Football Club, taking the name from "Club Nacional de Football" the Uruguayan club, whose shield and three colors were taken to associate the national origin. It is also referred as related to the school the founders attended. Its first president was Víctor Paredes Gómez and white was selected as the team color because that was the color of the Nacional de la Capital School uniform. For the emblem of the club, the colors of the Paraguayan flag were chosen.

Nacional is one of the traditional teams in the Paraguayan league and they have won a total of nine championships so far. Their nickname "La Academia" (lit. 'the academy') was given to them because of their excellent youth system that produced great players such as Arsenio Erico, who is considered as the best Paraguayan footballer of all time.

In 2009 Nacional won their first league title in 63 years.

In 2014, Club Nacional made history by reaching the Copa Libertadores final for the first time ever since its foundation, and by being only the second Paraguayan club to reach the final (after Olimpia).

The club began the campaign with a runner-up finish in the group stage. In the knockout stages, they defeated Argentine clubs Vélez Sarsfield and Arsenal de Sarandí. In the semi-finals, they beat Uruguayan club Defensor Sporting 2–1 on aggregate to set up a final with San Lorenzo. The first leg of the final was played in Asunción and ended 1-1. However, San Lorenzo won the second leg 1–0 at Estadio Pedro Bidegain and took the title with a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Youth

One of the club's youth teams played at the 2009 Torneo di Viareggio, the 2010 Torneo di Viareggio, the 2011 Torneo di Viareggio, the 2012 Torneo di Viareggio and the 2013 Torneo di Viareggio.

Honours

National

• Primera División
  • Winners (9): 1909, 1911 (undefeated), 1924, 1926, 1942, 1946, 2009 Clausura, 2011 Apertura, 2013 Apertura
• Plaqueta Millington Drake
  • Winners (4): 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946
• División Intermedia
  • Winners (3): 1979, 1989, 2003

Current squad

As of 24 January, 2024 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 1 GK  PAR Antony Silva 5 DF  ARG Sergio Ojeda 6 MF  PAR Juan Alfaro 7 MF  PAR Edgardo Orzuza 8 MF  ARG Facundo Velazco 11 FW  PAR Gustavo Caballero 12 GK  PAR Christian Riveros 13 DF  PAR Leandro Meza 14 DF  PAR Claudio Nuñez 15 FW  PAR Francisco Morel 16 MF  PAR Marcelo González 17 DF  ARG Brian Blasi 18 FW  PAR Lucas Gonzalez 20 DF  PAR Juan González

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  PAR Blas Cáceres 22 FW  PAR José Nuñez 23 FW  PAR Diego Duarte 24 MF  PAR Jordan Santacruz 25 FW  PAR Jesús Cáceres 26 DF  PAR Eduardo Duarte 29 MF  PAR Sebastián Vargas 30 GK  PAR Lucas Galarza 31 FW  ARG Nazareno Bazán 33 FW  PAR Orlando Gaona 36 DF  PAR Ismael Benegas 37 DF  PAR Kevin Benítez 38 FW  PAR Rodrigo Arévalo

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:

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

Managers

• Ever Hugo Almeida (1992)
• Daniel Raschle (July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009)
• Ever Hugo Almeida (July 1, 2009 – April 15, 2010)
• Juan Manuel Battaglia (April 1, 2010 – Dec 31, 2011)
• Javier Torrente (Jan 1, 2012 – April 19, 2012)
• Gustavo Morínigo (April 16, 2012–15)
• Ricardo Dabrowski (2015)
• Daniel Raschle (2015–2016)
• Ever Hugo Almeida (2016–)

References

1. "Paraguay - Club Nacional". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
2. "¡Nacional campeón del Clausura!" [Nacional Clausura champion!]. ultimahora.com (in Spanish). 13 December 2009. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021.
3. "Nacional cayó pero logró histórico paso a la final de la Libertadores". Prensafutbol.cl. 29 July 2014. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
4. "Nacional de Paraguay clasifica por primera vez a la final de Copa Libertadores". El Universo (in Spanish). 30 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
5. "San Lorenzo defeats Nacional to win Copa Libertadores title". Sports Illustrated. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
6. ^ "Coppa Carnevale - Torneo Internazionale Giovanile di Viareggio". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
7. "Torneo". Viareggiocup.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
8. "Ficha Estadistica de INCA -glaucineis martins da silva- (perfil, ficha, profile, stats)". Bdfa.com.ar. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
9. "Argentina - I. Fideleff - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". Int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
10. "Football player list. 2007-2016". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
11. "Nacional fichará a Zé Turbo - Fútbol - ABC Color".

External links

• Club Nacional de Paraguay – official website
• Club Nacional de Paraguay – unofficial website

• Club Nacional
• Football clubs in Paraguay
• Football clubs in Asunción
• Association football clubs established in 1904
• 1904 establishments in Paraguay