Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay.^[1] Its president is Raúl Zapag and the manager is Víctor Bernay. Its main rival is Club Olimpia. They play their home games at the 45,000-seat General Pablo Rojas Stadium, also known as La Nueva Olla (The New Boiler).

Quick Facts Nickname(s), Founded ...

Cerro Porteño

Nickname(s)	El Ciclón (The Cyclone) Club del Pueblo (The People's Team) La Mitad más Uno (The Half plus One) El Azulgrana (The Blue And Red)
Founded	1 October 1912; 111 years ago (1912-10-01)
Ground	Estadio General Pablo Rojas
Capacity	45,000
Chairman	Juan José Zapag
Manager	Manolo Jiménez
League	Primera División
2023	Primera División, 2nd of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
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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
• Segunda División
  • Champions (1): 1912
• Torneo República
  • Winners (3): 1989, 1991, 1995

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