Club Nacional

The club was founded on June 5, 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.[2]

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).[3]

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.[4] 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.[5]

One of the club's youth teams played at the 2009 Torneo di Viareggio,[6] the 2010 Torneo di Viareggio,[6] the 2011 Torneo di Viareggio,[6] the 2012 Torneo di Viareggio[6] and the 2013 Torneo di Viareggio.[7]

• Primera División (9): 1909, 1911 (undefeated), 1924, 1926, 1942, 1946, 2009 Clausura, 2011 Apertura, 2013 Apertura
• División Intermedia (3): 1979, 1989, 2003

As of 6 March 2022 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  PAR Rodolfo Rodríguez 2 DF  PAR Juan Franco 4 DF  PAR Gastón Benítez 5 DF  PAR Rolando Guerreño 7 MF  ARG Darío Ríos 8 MF  PAR Juan Argüello 9 FW  PAR David Fleitas 10 FW  PAR Danilo Santacruz 11 FW  PAR Orlando Gaona Lugo 13 DF  PAR Alex Aguilar 14 DF  PAR Claudio Nuñez 15 DF  ARG Franco Costa 16 MF  URU Marcelo Palau

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW  PAR Mathias Martínez 18 MF  PAR Richard Prieto — DF  PAR Wilson Ibarrola — MF  PAR Rodrigo Vera 21 MF  PAR Carlos Arrua 23 DF  PAR Carlos Espinola 24 FW  PAR Martín Núñez 25 FW  ARG Facundo Bruera (on loan from Club Atlético Brown) 26 MF  PAR Sergio Fretes 28 DF  ARG Bruno Cabrera 29 MF  PAR Sebastián Vargas 30 GK  PAR Santiago Rojas 32 MF  PAR Orlando Colmán

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.

• 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–)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Club Nacional (Paraguay).

• Club Nacional de Paraguay Official Site
• Club Nacional de Paraguay Unofficial Site