Club Olimpia

Olimpia was founded on July 25, 1902, being the oldest football team in Paraguay. The club was founded by Dutchman William Paats, along with Paraguayans Sila Godoi, Fernando S. Pascual, José E. Torres, Gustavo M. Crovatto, Héctor Cabañas, Juan Rodi, Antonio Pedraza, Luis Marecos, Juan Mara and Genaro Gutiérrez Yegros. The act of foundation was written in the Rodi's family home, located in the streets of Azara and Independencia Nacional in downtown Asunción, Paraguay. That evening, three names for the club were suggested: Paraguay, Esparta and Olimpia. The final decision came to William Paats who chose "Club Olimpia" as the team official name, in honor of the Greek city of Olympia where the Olympic Games were born.[1]

The original kit was composed of a black shirt with the word "Olimpia" written in white across the chest and white shorts. Later, white and black were adopted as the colours for the team, with a white shirt with a horizontal black stripe. The alternate jersey is black with a white stripe, though in 2008 the stripe is vertical.

The team that won its first Primera División championship in 1912.

The first national championship in Paraguay was played in 1906, after the foundation of the Paraguayan Football Association (APF). It was not until 1912 that Olimpia won a championship, facing Sol de América in the final. In that same year, Olimpia's biggest rival, Cerro Porteño, was founded.

After a few championships won during the 1910s, Olimpia's next big accomplishment were the three championships in a row in 1927, 1928, 1929 becoming the first Paraguayan team to win three consecutive titles. Olimpia repeated the same feat by becoming champions in 1936, 1937, 1938. The 1940s presented a rough time for Olimpia with bad results for most of the decade; but despite that Olimpia won two titles (1947 and 1948).

After the unpleasant times in the 1940s decade Olimpia started to establish its dominance in the Paraguayan league when Manuel Ferreira Sosa assumed the presidency of the club in the mid-1950s. During Ferreira's presidency the football stadium, Estadio Manuel Ferreira, was built. However, the most important accomplishment made by Ferreira was the acquisition of several key players that led Olimpia to a record five consecutive championships, from 1956 to 1960 (with an undefeated championship in 1959).[2]

The club also had a first taste of international success in 1960 in the first edition of the Copa Libertadores de América by reaching the finals in which they lost to Peñarol. Ironically, the winning goal for Peñarol in the finals was scored by Uruguayan Luis Cubilla, who later became a coach and led Olimpia to several national and international championships.

The election of new club president Osvaldo Domínguez Dibb in 1975 is a key part in Olimpia's history. The new president hired coach Luis Cubilla, who in 1979 led Olimpia to its first international cup win when the club defeated Boca Juniors of Argentina in the Copa Libertadores final. In the first leg game played in Asunción Olimpia won 2–0. That result allowed Olimpia to play their effective defensive scheme in the famous La Bombonera stadium in the second leg, ending the match in a 0–0 draw that gave the Paraguayan side its first Copa Libertadores.

In that same year, Olimpia won the Copa Interamericana by defeating FAS of El Salvador by an aggregate of 8–3 (first leg result: 3–3, second leg result: 5–0) and the Intercontinental Cup by defeating the UEFA Champions League runner-up Malmö of Sweden by an aggregate win of 3–1.[3]

Olimpia's success was not limited to the international scene: from 1978 to 1983 the team won a record six-straight Paraguayan league championships (beating their own record set in 1956–60 of five consecutive titles).

After the 1979 Copa Libertadores win, fans were starving for more continental success. For that matter, the club's president, Osvaldo Dominguez Dibb, decided to make a financial effort to bring Raul Vicente Amarilla, a Paraguayan striker that had proven his quality in the Spanish league over the years.

The signing of Oscar Amarilla was as positive for Olimpia as expected, as the team reached the 1989 Copa Libertadores finals but came up short, being defeated by Atlético Nacional. However, it did not take long for Olimpia to take revenge on Atlético Nacional, as they defeated the Colombian side in the semi-finals of the Libertadores in 1990. This allowed Olimpia to play the finals against Barcelona de Guayaquil, beating the Ecuadorians 2–0 in the first leg played in Asunción, and tying 1–1 in Ecuador. This way Olimpia obtained its second Libertadores Cup with a formidable team that had key players such as Almeida, Gabriel González, Samaniego, Amarilla among others.

Not content with the Libertadores win itself, Olimpia went on to win the 1990 Supercopa Sudamericana, a tournament reserved only for the best teams in South America. They did this by defeating Nacional de Montevideo in the finals with a 6–3 aggregate score. In that same year, Olimpia played the Intercontinental Cup final in Japan against the European champion AC Milan, losing 3–0. Because Olimpia won both the Libertadores and Supercopa in the same year, they automatically won the Recopa Sudamericana of 1990. The achievement of all the mentioned international titles in 1979 and 1990 established Olimpia as one of the most respected and traditional teams in South American football. In 1991 Olimpia reached the Copa Libertadores final for the third time in a row but lost the finals against Colo-Colo. Amongst other trophies won by Olimpia at the time, the club were crowned undefeated champions of the 1992 Torneo República, with Roberto Perfumo as team manager.

Roque Santa Cruz, pictured with Blackburn Rovers in 2009, debuted for Olimpia in 1997 and won consecutive trophies with the club

From 1994 to 1999, Olimpia would produce the debut of several youth team graduates and future national team players, such as Richart Baez (1993),[4] Denis Caniza (1994),[5] Carlos Humberto Paredes (1996),[6] Roque Santa Cruz (1997),[7] Ruben Maldonado (1997)[8] and Julio César Caceres (1999).[9] Baez was transferred to J1 League club Avispa Fukuoka whilst Santa Cruz, Paredes, Maldonado and Caceres were transferred to UEFA clubs. Five of the six players went on to play at FIFA World Cup tournaments for Paraguay. Olimpia also had won trophies in Paraguay's Primera División in 1993, 1995 and then consecuitively from 1997 to 2000, before winning the Copa Libertadores de América in 2002.

Olimpia squad during a 2002 Copa Libertadores match.

On July 25, 2002 Olimpia celebrated its centenary. This was not only an historic date in Olimpia's history because of the centenary, but it marked the year where Olimpia obtained its third Copa Libertadores. Having defeated teams such as Once Caldas (Colombia) and Universidad Católica (Chile) in the first round, Olimpia won the series against Cobreloa (Chile) in the second round, and then went on to overcome Boca Juniors in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Olimpia overcame Grêmio (Brazil). The team led by coach Nery Pumpido defeated Brazilian side São Caetano 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out after an aggregate score of 2–2 in both legs and thus winning the final. Olimpia's base formation for the tournament was with Ricardo Tavarelli in goal; Néstor Isasi, Julio César Cáceres, Nelson Zelaya and Henrique da Silva in defense; Sergio Orteman, Victor Quintana, Julio Enciso and Gastón Córdoba in midfield; and Miguel Benítez and Richart Báez (later Hernán Rodrigo López) in the front. Coach Nery Alberto Pumpido was at the helm.

Olimpia also won the 2002 Recopa Sudamericana (played in 2003) by defeating San Lorenzo de Almagro of Argentina 2–0 in the final. As in 1990, Olimpia lost the Intercontinental Cup final, this time against the powerful Real Madrid by a score of 0–2.

A deep slump followed the successful international period of 2002–03. Olimpia has failed to qualify for the Copa Libertadores consistently in the last few years, and has not won the local tournament since 2000. Coaches have come and gone, most failing to lift Olimpia to any glory.

Marcelo Recanate, former president of Club Olimpia.

At the beginning of the 2007 Apertura season, Paraguayan legend José Cardozo took the helm as coach. His tenure did not last long, as Olimpia were unable to win the championship. For the Clausura tournament, former star player Alicio Solalinde was back at the helm. Though his record was not bad, he was replaced by Carlos Jara Saguier halfway through the tournament. This sparked a lot of controversy, as Saguier was a former player of Cerro Porteño, and an admitted fan of that club. Olimpia finished third in the Clausura tournament, behind Libertad and Cerro Porteño. A fourth-place finish in the global tabulation (adding both Apertura and Clausura tournaments) has allowed Olimpia to return to international play in the Copa Sudamericana of 2008 after 4 years of absence.

Oscar Scavone was president from 2004–2006.

At the ends of the year 2010, the Club Olimpia had their internal elections, that is usually made every two years. The two lists presented were led by the candidates for president Marcelo Recanate and Eduardo Delmás respectively. The list presided by Marcelo Recanate won the elections and they took control of the Club Olimpia from that same year.

Olimpia Asunción in a fixture against 3 de Febrero at the Defensores del Chaco in 2011.

The 2011, started very successfully for both the new directive as well as for the club. A total of twelve new players were incorporated to the first squad, and the youth team got a lot of new players as well as new trainers for each division. The first squad, started the Apertura 2011 with seven victories in a row, and ended the first round of the tournament in the first position. The alternative team, the reserve, also had a good performance in its internal tournament. They are also leading the positions. A very important fact of this new era of the Olimpia, is that number of active fan members of the club was triplicated just in three months, and that they are still increasing because of the team's great performance. But then again, in the second round of the tournament, a dispute emerged among the chairman, the coach and some of the players, as Marcelo Recanate accused them of "not giving all his finest efforts in the field". The rage remained until the final matches, when Nery Pumpido resigned. Mauro Caballero and Virginio Caceres took the lead and obtained the second place in the tournament.

On December 18, 2011, Olimpia made its 39th national tournament by winning the 2011 Clausura after eleven years, the longest period without obtaining a national championship.[10] The title came after defeating Rubio Ñu 2–1 at the Defensores del Chaco stadium and achieving 46 points on the tournament. Olimpia will participate in 2012's Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana as the "competitor number one" of Paraguay. The title was celebrated by fans hugely on the streets of Asuncion and nearby cities due to the way it was won with Olimpia having a precious one-point lead over rivals Cerro until the last day also because Olimpia won it despite many key injuries to key players, internal arguments with Chairman Recanate but in the end ended up being solved and due to criticism by other teams's fans about controversial calls made in favor of Olimpia. In the end, Olimpia won because it had the most stable team in Paraguay although not playing beautifully but very effective especially with free kicks and the fans support was big during the whole year.

In 2012 Olimpia finished in third place in the Primera División, and they along with the two other big teams of Paraguay, Cerro Porteño and Libertad, qualified for the 2013 Copa Libertadores. They had a great performance there, defeating two other major teams in the knockout stages Fluminense and Santa Fe. They reached the finals for the seventh time, a feat which no Brazilian or Colombian team have been able to achieve. However, they did lose to Atlético Mineiro in Mineirão 0–2 after winning 2–0 in Asunción and lost the last penalty kick when the ball bounced violently against the bar, ending the dream of a fourth title.[11]

As of January 1, 2020[13][14][15][16]

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  ECU Daniel Librado Azcona 2 MF  PAR Willian Candia 3 MF  URU Alejandro Silva 4 DF  PAR Miguel Samudio 5 DF  COL Jorge Enrique Arias 6 MF  PAR Richard Ortiz 7 FW  PAR Néstor Camacho 8 MF  PAR Rodrigo Rojas 9 FW  PAR Brian Montenegro 10 FW  PAR Derlis González 11 MF  PAR Iván Torres 12 GK  PAR Alfredo Aguilar 13 DF  PAR Wilson Ibarrola 14 MF  PAR Hugo Fernández 15 DF  URU Diego Polenta 16 MF  URU Tabaré Viudez

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  PAR Hernesto Caballero 18 MF  PAR Jorge Rojas 19 DF  PAR Carlos Rolón 20 DF  COL Sergio Otálvaro 21 DF  PAR Antolín Alcaraz 22 DF  PAR Luis de la Cruz 23 MF  ARG Nicolás Domingo 24 FW  PAR Roque Santa Cruz (Captain) 26 GK  PAR Pedro González 27 DF  PAR José Leguizamón 28 DF  PAR Alan Benítez 29 FW  PAR Jorge Ortega 29 MF  PAR Hugo Quintana 30 DF  PAR Julio César Cáceres 31 FW  PAR Nicolás Morínigo

Just like in football, Olimpia is the most successful basketball team in Paraguay. Since 1937 it has won 29 national championships, with the twelve consecutive titles from 1946 to 1957 as the most amazing feat in their resume.[19]

National

• Paraguayan Basketball Champion

Champion (29): 1937, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1988, 1992, 1994

International

• South American Club Championship

Champion (1): 1947

Olimpia has an athletics department directed by Ronaldo Almiron and participates in the competitions of the Federación Paraguaya de Atletismo.[20] Recognized athlete is javelin thrower Fabian Jara represented the club in 2012,[21] who later on registered with Club Sol de América, Jara represented Paraguay at the 2012 South American Under-23 Championships, 2014 South American Games and the 2014 South American Under-23 Championships.

On April 29, 2019, club president Marco Trovato posted on Twitter that Olimpia would launch a rugby union section to compete in the new Superliga Americana de Rugby for its inaugural season in 2020.[22] Named Olimpia Lions , the team will be the only Paraguayan representative at the competition.[23][24]