Club Libertad

Libertad

Full name	Club Libertad
Nickname(s)	Gumarelo, Los Repolleros, La Escolta
Founded	July 30, 1905
Ground	Estadio Dr. Nicolás Leoz (Capacity: current 10,000, future 25,000)
Chairman	Horacio Cartes
Manager	Gregorio Pérez
League	Primera División
2010 Clausura	Winner
Home colours Away colours

Club Libertad is a sports club based in the District Tuyucuá of the city of Asuncion, capital of Paraguay. It was founded on July 30, 1905 and currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club is known as the "Gumarelo" or "Repolleros".

Libertad is the third most victorious Paraguayan football club, having won fourteen national titles, they also participated of several editions of the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, reaching the semifinals of the Libertadores on two occasions in 1977 and 2006.

History

In 1905, political instability ruled in Paraguay. A group of young men who arrived to Asunción through the bay in a ship named "Sajonia" (Saxony), later renamed "Libertad" (liberty), led a triumphant revolution to take down the government who at that time was from the Partido Colorado (Colorado Party). The name of the ship that brought the young men who were part of the opposing political party (the liberal party) was an inspiration to Juan Manuel Sosa Escalada, who along with some friends, decided to found a new sports club named Club Libertad on July 30, 1905.

Since winning its first championship in 1910, Libertad has always been overshadowed by the two big clubs in Paraguay: Olimpia and Cerro Porteño, who together won most of the Paraguayan football national championships. Despite that, Libertad has confirmed the position of third "big" team in Paraguay by winning ten championships, one more than Club Guaraní which has nine titles. There has always been much controversy between the two clubs, since Guarani have always been considered the third team in terms of following in Paraguay, but Libertad are in third place as far as titles are concerned. Guarani still do draw larger crowds to their games, despite not having won the league title since 1984.

Libertad has always been considered a traditional club in the Paraguayan league and the relegation of the club to the second division in 1998 was very shocking. Two years later however, a new president took over the club and they were promoted back to the first division. Two years later in 2002, they won the Paraguayan league title and repeated the same feat in 2003. The success of the later years allowed Libertad to qualify for the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana. They reached the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores in 2006, and in 2007, Libertad reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Boca Juniors. Libertad won four straight championships from 2006–2008 (the last of these years having had two independent championships). Only Olimpia of Asuncion have accomplished or surpassed this feat in Paraguayan football, as the second most successful club, Cerro Porteño have never won more than three in a row.

Players

Current squad

As of February 8, 2011.^[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Bernardo Medina GK Tobías Vargas GK Rubén Escobar DF Pedro Sarabia DF Carlos Bonet DF Arnaldo Vera DF Miguel Samudio DF Gustavo Mencia DF Víctor Dávalos DF Aldo Olmedo DF Pedro Portocarrero DF Arnaldo Recalde MF Sergio Aquino MF Víctor Cáceres MF Omar Pouso

No. Position Player MF Ignacio Canuto MF Luciano Civelli MF Jorge González MF Víctor Ayala MF Rodrigo Alborno MF Jorge Moreira MF José Núñez FW Manuel Maciel FW Rodolfo Gamarra FW Pablo Velázquez FW Rodrigo Rojas FW Nelson Romero FW Cristian Menendez FW Nicolás Pavlovich

Notable players

Pablo Garnier Pablo Horacio Guiñazú Souza Vladimir Marín Delfín Benítez Cáceres Carlos Bonet Paulo Da Silva Sebastian Fleitas Miranda Dante Lopez

Eulogio Martínez Juan Samudio Estanislao Struway Juan Bautista Torales Justo Villar Luis Ramírez Fernando Álvez Hernán Rodrigo López Omar Pouso

Notable coaches

• Rubén Israel
• Carlos Jara Saguier
• Gerardo Martino
• Sergio Markarián

Honours

• Primera División (15): 1910, 1917, 1920, 1930, 1943, 1945, 1955, 1976, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, 2010 Clausura
• División Intermedia (1): 2000

Basketball

The basketball team of Libertad belongs to the top teams of the Liga Nacional de Basquetbol and Libertad is after Olimpia the most successful club of Paraguay.

Honours

• Liga de Baloncesto Metropolitana: 1958, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1990, 2005
• Top 5 Profesional: 2008, 2009, 2010
• Liga Nacional de Clubes: 2009
• Súper Copa de Campeones: 2008, 2009

References

1. ^ Club Libertad official website

External links

• Club Libertad Official Site
• Actualidad del fútbol paraguayo