When thinking of the biggest football teams in Latin America, current Paraguayan champion Cerro Porteño are not usually one of the first names that come to mind. The Asunción-based club are well known for boasting one of the best youth academies in South America, and have been crowned Paraguayan champions an incredible 31 times, trailing only bitter rivals Olimpia on 39 titles.
However, the most noticeable difference between El Ciclón and Olimpia are their continental achievements. Of the 24 clubs to win South American football’s premier club competition, the Copa Libertadores, only one Paraguayan team have been crowned continental champions. Olimpia achieved the feat in 1979, 1990 and most recently in the club’s centenary year of 2002, also caming agonisingly close to a fourth Libertadores in 2013, unlucky to lose out to Ronaldinho’s Atlético Miniero. El Decano also lifted the 1979 Intercontinental Cup and 1990 Supercopa Sudamericana respectively, among other continental accolades.
Tiny Nacional of Asuncion shocked the world by reaching the final of last year’s Libertadores before eventually being beaten by Argentinian powerhouse San Lorenzo. The fighting spirit of Paraguayan sides was also shown in this year’s competition, when Guaraní reached the semi-finals after defeating giants Racing and Corinthians, before losing out to eventual champions River Plate. One of the many beauties of South American football are the ‘David vs Goliath’ battles, where the underdog often triumphs over his far superior rival, and Paraguayan teams are often at the forefront of these common upsets.
Cerro Porteño suffered a shock first round exit in this year’s Libertadores at the hands of Venezuelan minnows Deportivo Tachira, a result which shocked many onlookers as El Ciclón fielded one of their strongest sides in recent years. Despite being one of the most successful domestic sides in the history of South American football, they have failed to make an appearance in a Libertadores final since the competition’s inauguration in 1960. The club has exited at the semi-final stage of the competition an incredible six times in 1973, 1978, 1993, 1998, 1999 and most recently in 2011 when they were eliminated by a Neymar-inspired Santos, who went on to win the tournament.
That year also saw a young Paraguayan-born Argentinian by the name of Juan Manuel Iturbe light up the Estadio General Pablo Rojas with his phenomenal pace and mazy dribbling runs, but the current Roma winger, like many of the club’s big stars before him, failed to guide Cerro to their maiden Libertadores final. El Ciclón have consistently fielded exceptionally strong sides over the years, but have are yet to come anywhere near the continental achievements of bitter rivals Club Olimpia. Cerro currently boast, on paper, the strongest side in Paraguayan football, and will certainly look to improve on their 2015 tournament showing at next year’s Libertadores.
The club’s brightest star remains 16-year-old wonderkid Sergio Díaz, who has been heavily linked with the likes of AS Roma, Barcelona and Manchester United. The powerful but diminutive young striker boasts expectional technical ability, and has often been compared to Manchester City hitman Sergio Agüero. Despite featuring one of the most coveted youngsters in world football and one of the best youth systems on the continent, Cerro Porteño’s current side features an equally balanced mix of experience and youth. Bruno Valdez and Cecilio Domínguez are among El Ciclón’s new generation of talent, alongside Díaz, while an experienced backbone also features the likes of Jonathan Fabbro, Fendicio Oviedo, Uruguayan veteran Diego Lugano and, until recently, former Spanish international striker Dani Güiza.
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The current Paraguayan champions, along with Brazilian giants Botafogo, remain the biggest side never to win the continent’s premier football club competition, and it remains to be seen whether they will become only the second Paraguayan team to lift the Copa Libertadores in the forseeable future. Cerro play an attractive brand of attacking football and feature some of the best players the tiny South American nation has to offer, but until they can repeat the giant-killing heroics of fellow Paraguayans Nacional in last year and go one step better and win the Libertadores, El Ciclón will always be in the shadow of rivals Olimpia.
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