Club Olimpia
Full name | Club Olimpia | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | El Decano (The Dean) Rey de Copas (The King of Cups) El Expreso Decano (The Express Dean) La "O" (The "O") El Tricampeón de América (The Triple Champion of America) | ||
Founded | July 25, 1902 | ||
Ground | Estadio Osvaldo Domínguez Dibb | ||
Capacity | 22,000 | ||
Chairman | Rodrigo Nogués | ||
Manager | Martín Palermo | ||
League | Primera División | ||
2023 | Primera División, 6th of 12 | ||
Website | Club website | ||
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Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan professional
Olimpia has won a record 46
Olimpia contests the Paraguayan football derby (clásico) with Cerro Porteño, the "clásico añejo" (Old Derby) with Guaraní, and the "black and white derby" with Libertad.
The football team plays its home games at the
History
Foundation
On November 23, 1901, before the formation of Club Olimpia, William Paats organized a first match between two teams of his students which then made young people to be eager to develop a sport team in Paraguay.[1] 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.[2]
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 early years (1902–1950)
The first national championship in Paraguay was played in 1906, after the foundation of the
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).
The start of dominance (1950–1975)
After the unpleasant times in the 1940s decade Olimpia started to establish its dominance in the Paraguayan league when
The club also had a first taste of international success in 1960 in the first edition of the
The golden years (1975–1986)
The election of new club president
In that same year, Olimpia won the
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).
Continued success (1986–2000)
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
The signing of Oscar Amarilla was as positive for Olimpia as expected, as the team reached the
Not content with the Libertadores title itself, Olimpia went on to win the 1990
From 1994 to 1999, Olimpia would produce the debut of several youth team graduates and future national team players, such as
Centenary and present (2000–present)
On July 25, 2002 Olimpia celebrated its
Olimpia also won the
A deep slump followed the successful international period of 2002–03. Olimpia failed to qualify for the Copa Libertadores consistently in the last few years, and did not win the local tournament since 2000. Coaches have come and gone, most failing to lift Olimpia to any glory. Oscar Scavone was president from 2004–2006.
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 annual table (adding both Apertura and Clausura tournaments) allowed Olimpia to return to international play after 4 years of absence with the 2008 Copa Sudamericana.
In December 2010, Club Olimpia had their internal elections which are usually held 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.
The year 2011 started off very successfully for both the new directors 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 began 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. 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.[citation needed] 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 obtained its 39th national league title by winning the 2011 Clausura after eleven years, the longest period without obtaining a national championship.[11] The title came after defeating Rubio Ñu 2–1 at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco and finishing three points ahead of Cerro Porteño. The title was largely celebrated by energetic fans on the streets of Asuncion and nearby cities due to the way it was won with Olimpia having only a one-point lead over rivals Cerro until the last matchday. Other reasons why it was an unexpected title are that Olimpia had lost many key players to injuries, internal arguments with Chairman Recanate (later solved) and heavy criticism by other teams's fans about controversial calls made in favor of Olimpia.
Olimpia participated in the 2012 Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana as the "number one competitor" of Paraguay. However, their campaigns in both cups were underwhelming, as they were eliminated in the group stage and second round respectively.
In the 2012 Apertura Olimpia finished in second place in the Primera División, and qualified for the 2013 Copa Libertadores along with the two other big teams of Paraguay, Cerro Porteño and Libertad. 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 lost to Atlético Mineiro in Mineirão 0–2 after winning 2–0 in Asunción and lost the penalty shootout 4–3, with Matías Giménez's penalty hitting the crossbar, ending the dream of a fourth title.[12]
Rivalries
Olimpia's most traditional rival is
Honours
National
- Primera División: (46)
- 1912, 1914, 1916, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2011 Clausura, 2015 Clausura, 2018 Apertura, 2018 Clausura, 2019 Apertura, 2019 Clausura, 2020 Clausura, 2022 Clausura
- 1992
International
- Supercopa Sudamericana:
- 1990
Friendly international
- 1990[14]
Players
Squad
- As of 24 January 2024[15]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
- To appear in this section a player must have either:
- 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.
1970s
- Ever Hugo Almeida(1973–91)
- Hugo Talavera (1975–80, 1981–85)
1980s
- Gustavo Neffa (1987–89, 1998–99)
- Raúl Amarilla (footballer, born 1960) (1988–89, 1990–93)
1990s
- Roque Santa Cruz (1997–99, 2016–21)
2000s
- Sergio Órteman (2001–04, 2011–12, 2013)
- Glacinei Martins (2006)[16]
- Josías Paulo Cardoso Júnior(2006)
- Carlos Gamarra (2007)
- Juan Rodrigo Rojas(2007–10)
- Juan Manuel Lucero (2008–09)
- Juan Cardozo (2009)
- Oswaldo Vizcarrondo (2009)
- Ebelio Ordóñez (2009)
- José María Buljubasich (2009)
- Martín Ligüera (2009–10)
- Nelson Cuevas (2009–10)
2010s
- Cristian Bogado (2010)
- Juan Carlos Ferreyra (2010, 2013)
- Pablo Zeballos (2011–12, 2015)
- Martín Silva (2011–13)
- Juan Manuel Salgueiro (2012-2015)
- Renzo Revoredo (2012)
- Alejandro Silva(2012-2015)
- Cristian Riveros (2015–2018)
- Jorge Salinas (2015)
- Richard Sánchez (2017-2019)
Non-CONMEBOL players
- Alberto Zapata (2004)[17]
- Yoshinobu Matsumura (2008)[18]
- Carlos Ruiz (2009)
- Carlos Figueroa (2009)
- Emmanuel Adebayor (2020)
Managers
- Manuel Fleitas Solich (1942)
- Carlos Peucelle (19??–??)
- Aurelio González (195?–6?)
- Roque Máspoli (197?–7?)
- Luis Cubilla (1979–80), (1982)
- Sergio Markarián (1983–84)
- Aníbal Ruiz (1985)
- Sergio Markarián (1986)
- Aníbal Ruiz (1987)
- Luis Cubilla (January 1, 1988 – June 30, 1991)
- Aníbal Ruiz (August 1991)
- Roberto Perfumo (1992)
- Osvaldo Piazza (1992)
- Ever Hugo Almeida(January 1, 1993 – January 1, 1994)
- Gustavo Benítez (1994)
- Luis Cubilla (January 1, 1995 – December 31, 1999)
- Alicio Solalinde (2000)
- Aníbal Ruiz (2001), (2002)
- Nery Pumpido (July 1, 2001 – June 30, 2003)
- Alicio Solalinde (2003)
- Gustavo Benítez (2004–05)
- Carlos Kiese (January 1, 2004 – December 31, 2005)
- Carlos Diarte (2006)
- José Cardozo (November 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007)
- Félix Torres(2007)
- Gustavo Costas (January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008)
- Ever Almeida(August 29, 2008 – March 10, 2009)
- Carlos Kiese (January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2009)
- Gregorio Pérez (March 9, 2009 – July 16, 2009)
- José Cardozo (November 21, 2009 – August 9, 2010)
- Luis Cubilla (August 16, 2010 – December 17, 2010)
- Nery Pumpido (January 1, 2011 – May 11, 2011)
- Gerardo Pelusso (July 1, 2011 – July 11, 2012)
- Gregorio Pérez (July 11, 2012 – September 25, 2012)
- José Cardozo (September 25, 2012 – December 20, 2012)
- Ever Almeida(January 27, 2013 – March 10, 2014)
- Diego Alonso (March 10, 2014–1?)
- Luis Alberto Monzón(2014)
- Nery Pumpido (2014–2015)
- Francisco Arce (2015–2016)
- Fernando Jubero (2016–2017)
- Pablo Repetto (2017)
- Daniel Garnero (2018–2020)
- Néstor Gorosito (2020–2021)
- Sergio Orteman(2021)
- Enrique Landaida (2021)
- Álvaro Gutiérrez (2021)
- Julio César Cáceres (2021–present)
Other sports
Olimpia is also well known for training athletes that compete in other sports such as
Basketball
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]
Achievements
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: 1947
Athletics
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.
Rugby
On April 29, 2019, club president Marco Trovato posted on Twitter that Olimpia would launch a
References
- ^ Team, Editorial (September 28, 2021). "Club Olimpia - Paraguay's Most Successful Club". historyofsoccer.info. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
- ^ "Foundation of the Club". Club Olimpia Website. Archived from the original on December 8, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
- ^ "Historia del Mas Grande". El Decano Website. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006.
- ^ "Olimpia Emerge Triumphant in Unlikely Decider". FIFA. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020.
- ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Richart Báez". www.national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Denis Caniza". www.national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Carlos Paredes". www.national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Roque Santa Cruz". www.national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Rubén Maldonado". www.national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Julio César Cáceres". www.national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ Olimpia end 11-year wait for Paraguayan title win – https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=reu-latamparaguay_pix –[permanent dead link] Yahoo Sports, December 18, 2011
- ^ "Histórico! Galo bate Olimpia nos pênaltis e é campeão da Libertadores" [Historic! 'Galo' beats Olimpia on penalties and is Copa Libertadores champion]. globoesporte.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). July 24, 2013. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- ^ Preparandose para el clásico mas añejo Archived December 18, 2014, at the Wayback Machine – Club Guarani Website
- ^ Cruickshank, Mark; Morrison, Neil. "Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Cup (Calcutta) 1990". RSSSF. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ "Plantel de Primera". Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ BDFA. "Ficha Estadistica de INCA -glaucineis martins da silva- (perfil, ficha, profile, stats)". bdfa.com.ar. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
- ^ "Alberto Zapata". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on September 22, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
- ^ "Yoshi :: Yoshinobu Matsumura ::". www.ceroacero.es. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ "Olimpia Basketball". Club Olimpia Website. Archived from the original on December 25, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
- ^ "Nuestros Clubes – Federación Paraguaya de Atletismo". Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
- ^ "Atletas paraguayos compiten en Colombia y Argentina". pmcpy.org. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
- ^ Trovato, Marco (April 29, 2019). "El Año Próximo, se viene la Franquicia OLIMPIA Rugby, para competir en la Super Liga Americana de Rugby como único equipo representante del Paraguay". Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
- ^ Ceibos, el equipo privado del millón de dólares Archived December 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine by Sergio Stuart Olé, November 28, 2019
- ^ Nace la Superliga Americana, un impulso vital para el rugby regional Archived April 20, 2021, at the Wayback Machine by Alejo Miranda La Nación, December 1, 2019
- ^ "Super Rugby Americas to launch without Pride or Jaguares". americasrugbynews.com. December 22, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2023.