Juan_Escobar_(Paraguayan_footballer)
Juan Escobar (Paraguayan footballer)
Paraguayan footballer (born 1995)
Juan Marcelo Escobar Chena (Spanish pronunciation: [xwam maɾˈselo eskoˈβaɾ ˈtʃena]; born 3 July 1995) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as either a centre-back or right-back for Liga MX club Toluca and the Paraguay national team. He has also been part of Paraguay's U20 and U23 teams.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Marcelo Escobar Chena | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-07-03) 3 July 1995 (age 28) | ||
| Place of birth | Luque, Paraguay | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
Toluca (on loan from Cruz Azul) | ||
| Number | 24 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2010–2013 | Sportivo Luqueño | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2017 | Sportivo Luqueño | 97 | (1) |
| 2018–2019 | Cerro Porteño | 54 | (4) |
| 2019– | Cruz Azul | 141 | (11) |
| 2024– | → Toluca (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015 | Paraguay U20 | 4 | (0) |
| 2015 | Paraguay U23 | 4 | (0) |
| 2017– | Paraguay | 12 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:52, 05 November 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:46, 29 January 2022 (UTC) | |||
Sportivo Luqueño
Born in Luque, Escobar started his career with hometown side Sportivo Luqueño. Promoted to the first team ahead of the 2014 season, he made his first team – and Primera División – debut on 16 February of that year, starting in a 3–0 away loss against Nacional Asunción.
Escobar subsequently became a regular starter for the side, and scored his first professional goal on 4 May 2016, netting his team's second in a 2–2 home draw against Sol de América.[1]
Cerro Porteño
On 28 December 2017, Escobar agreed to a five-year contract with Cerro Porteño,[2] for a rumoured fee of US$ 1 million.[3] He was a regular starter during his first campaign, playing as a central defender and partnering Marcos Cáceres.
Cruz Azul
In 2019, he joined Mexican club Cruz Azul for a fee of USD$7, 000, 000.00, surpassing a 20-year transfer fee record in Paraguayan football held by Roque Santa Cruz when he joined Bundesliga team Bayern Munich for USD$6, 900, 000.00 in 1999.[4]
Loan to Toluca
On 31 January 2024, Escobar joined Toluca on a season-long loan.[5]
After representing Paraguay at under-20 level in the 2015 South American Youth Football Championship,[6] and under-23 level in the 2015 Pan American Games, Escobar was first called up to the full side on 21 June 2017, for a friendly against Mexico.[7] He made his full international debut on 1 July, starting in a 2–1 loss at the CenturyLink Field in Seattle.[8]
Club
- As of 14 January 2019[9]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2014 | Primera División | 21 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 0 | |||
| 2015 | 10 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
| 2016 | 25 | 1 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 26 | 1 | ||||
| 2017 | 41 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | — | 43 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 97 | 1 | — | 5 | 1 | — | 102 | 2 | ||||
| Cerro Porteño | 2018 | Primera División | 34 | 0 | — | 6[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 40 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 131 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 2 | ||
- Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
- Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
International
- As of 29 January 2022[10]
| Paraguay | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | ||
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 12 | 0 | ||
Cruz Azul
- Liga MX: Guardianes 2021
- Campeón de Campeones: 2021
- Supercopa de la Liga MX: 2022
- Supercopa MX: 2019
- Leagues Cup: 2019
Individual
- "Se mantiene en la penumbra" [The shadows remain] (in Spanish). ABC Color. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- "Juan Escobar llega a Cerro Porteño" [Juan Escobar joins Cerro Porteño]. Fox Sports (in Spanish). 28 December 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ""Es una cifra récord para el fútbol paraguayo"" [It is a record fee for the Paraguayan football] (in Spanish). ABC Color. 4 January 2018. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- "Juan Escobar sería el más caro del fútbol paraguayo". 23 May 2019.
- "Juan Escobar, fuera de Cruz Azul; llega como refuerzo al Toluca" (in Spanish). ESPN México. 31 January 2024.
- "Los 23 convocados albirrojos para el Sudamericano Sub 20" [The 23 albirrojos called up for the Under-20 South American Championship] (in Spanish). D10. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- "Paraguay anuncia convocados para amistoso contra México" [Paraguay announce called up players for friendly against Mexico] (in Spanish). Milenio. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- "México venció 2–1 a Paraguay en amistoso en Seattle previo a debut en la Copa Oro 2017" [Mexico defeated Paraguay by 2–1 in Seattle prior to the 2017 Gold Cup] (in Spanish). El Comercio. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- Juan Escobar at Soccerway. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- "Juan Escobar". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- "Liga MX unveils its final roster for the 2021 All-Star game". AS. 19 July 2021.
- "LIGA MX announces roster for 2022 MLS All-Star Game at Allianz Field". Major League Soccer. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- Juan Escobar at National-Football-Teams.com
- Juan Escobar at Soccerway