Édgar Osvaldo Barreto Cáceres (born 15 July 1984) is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He played for the national U17, U20 and U23 teams before going on to make 60 appearances for Paraguay's senior squad.

Édgar Barreto
Personal information
Full name Édgar Osvaldo Barreto Cáceres[1]
Date of birth (1984-07-15) 15 July 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth Asunción, Paraguay
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Youth career
Cerro Porteño
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 Cerro Porteño 26 (4)
2004–2007 NEC 95 (10)
2007–2009 Reggina 68 (5)
2009–2011 Atalanta 33 (1)
2011–2015 Palermo 122 (7)
2015–2020 Sampdoria 104 (3)
2020–2022 NEC 47 (4)
Total 495 (34)
International career
2001 Paraguay U17 3 (0)
2003 Paraguay U20 4 (0)
2004 Paraguay U23 7 (0)
2004–2011 Paraguay 60 (3)
Medal record
Representing  Paraguay
Men's Football
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Team Competition
Copa América
Silver medal – second place 2011 Argentina Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

After starting his career with Cerro Porteño in his homeland and NEC in the Dutch Eredivisie, Barreto spent the vast majority of his career in Italy's Serie A. He made over 260 appearances in the competition, in service of Reggina, Atalanta, Palermo and Sampdoria, and retiring in 2022 after two seasons back in the Netherlands at NEC.

Barreto earned 60 caps for the Paraguay national team from 2004 to 2011. After winning a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, he played for the country at three Copa América tournaments and two FIFA World Cups, finishing as runner-up in the 2011 Copa América.

Club career

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Barreto started his career with Paraguayan club Cerro Porteño, debuting in the 2002 season. The following year he made his debut in the Copa Libertadores.

in January 2004, he signed with Eredivisie club NEC Nijmegen.

In the summer of 2007, Barreto agreed to a four-year contract with Reggina Calcio.[3] He played an integral part in keeping Reggina in Serie A at the end of the 2007–08 season, earning a reputation for scoring long range goals. In summer 2009, after Reggina moved to Serie B, he was sold to Atalanta Bergamo.[4]

At Atalanta, Barreto missed most of his first season through injury,[5] only returning in the last days of the season and not being able to avoid the relegation of his club in Serie B. His excellent performances in Serie B afforded the interest Napoli during the January market. He contributed to the promotion of the Bergamaschi to Serie A in the 2010–11 season, at the end of which he was voted into "Top 11 Serie B" players team by Italian journalists.[6]

On 31 August 2011, Barreto moved to Palermo on a four-year contract[7] while a transfer fee of €5.3 million was paid to Atalanta.[8]

On 1 July 2015, Barreto signed a contract with U.C. Sampdoria.[9]

During an interview in July 2017, Barreto affirmed that he would not return to Paraguayan football due to family reasons, although he recognized that his time at Cerro Porteño was fundamental for his career.[10]

In May 2020 he agreed the termination of his contract with Sampdoria.[11]

Return to NEC

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Upon Barreto's contract termination with Sampadoria, NEC's fans had dreamed and expressed his return. Barreto actually owned a house and three apartments that he leased in the city of Nijmegen, which was also a destination venue for his family during vacations and, on more than one occasion, Barreto manifested his wish to return to the club.[12] NEC's fans had placed a banner at the entry of the club's stadium asking Barreto to return as NEC's general manager, Wilco van Schaik, lifted the fan's hopes of Barreto returning to the club. Van Schaik had told Dutch magazine Voetbal International that Barreto was an important player in NEC and still held a lot of weight in the city,[13] with the club expressing interest in the player since the month of May.[14]

On 15 July 2020, on his 36th birthday and after 13 years in Italian football,[15] Barreto returned to his first European club NEC in the Dutch second tier. Barreto signed a season-long contract with the option of extending for another season.[16][11][17]

In August 2020, Barreto played his first match of the season in a 2–0 defeat to Cambuur.[18]

On 15 May 2022, he announced his retirement from football, while stating his desire to start a managerial career.[19][20]

International career

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Barreto debuted for the Paraguay national football team in a 1–0 win over Costa Rica on 8 June at the 2004 Copa América. He played all four games as his team reached the quarter-finals.[21] Weeks later, he was part of their squad that took home a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Greece.[22] On 4 August, before the Summer Olympics began, he played in a preparation game against the Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo in the city of Algarve, resulting in a 5–0 defeat.[23]

On 17 August 2005, Barreto scored his first international goal to open a 3–0 friendly win over El Salvador in Ciudad del Este.[24] Coach Anibal Ruiz called him up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.[25]

At the 2007 Copa América in Venezuela, Barreto again played all four matches of a quarter-final finish. He scored to open a 3–1 win over the United States in the group stage.[26] At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, he came on in the 75th minute against Japan in the last 16 and scored the first attempt in the penalty shootout, as Paraguay advanced to the next round for the first time.[27]

Barreto was also in Gerardo Martino's squad that came runners-up to the hosts at the 2011 Copa América in Uruguay. Again on as a substitute in the quarter-finals against holders Brazil, he took the first penalty after another goalless draw, sending it wide in an eventual triumph.[28]

On 5 August 2012, Barreto announced his international retirement for the Albirroja. He said that he could no longer combine the long journeys with competing in Serie A.[21]

Personal life

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Barreto is the younger brother of goalkeeper Diego Barreto, who was his international teammate.[29]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[30]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
NEC 2003–04 Eredivisie 9 0 0 0 9 0
2004–05 25 5 0 0 25 5
2005–06 32 3 0 0 2[a] 0 34 3
2006–07 29 2 0 0 4[a] 0 33 2
Total 95 10 0 0 0 0 6 0 101 10
Reggina 2007–08 Serie A 36 3 2 1 38 4
2008–09 32 2 1 0 33 2
Total 68 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 71 6
Atalanta 2009–10 Serie A 4 0 1 0 5 0
2010–11 Serie B 29 1 0 0 29 1
Total 33 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 34 1
Palermo 2011–12 Serie A 34 1 0 0 34 1
2012–13 30 0 2 0 32 0
2013–14 Serie B 34 4 0 0 34 4
2014–15 Serie A 24 2 1 0 25 2
Total 122 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 125 7
Sampdoria 2015–16 Serie A 30 0 0 0 2 0 32 0
2016–17 32 2 1 0 33 2
2017–18 28 1 2 2 30 3
2018–19 12 0 1 0 13 0
2019–20 2 0 0 0 2 0
Total 104 3 4 2 2 0 0 0 110 5
NEC 2020–21 Eerste Divisie 28 3 2 0 3[b] 0 33 3
2021–22 Eredivisie 19 1 1 0 20 1
Total 47 4 3 0 0 0 3 0 53 4
Career total 469 30 14 3 4 0 9 0 496 33
  1. ^ a b Appearances in Eredivisie play-offs for UI-Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in Eerste Divisie play-offs for promotion

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[31]
National team Year Apps Goals
Paraguay 2004 6 0
2005 6 1
2006 6 0
2007 14 1
2008 10 0
2009 5 0
2010 5 1
2011 8 0
Total 60 3
Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Barreto goal.
List of international goals scored by Édgar Barreto
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 August 2005 Ciudad del Este, Paraguay   El Salvador 3–0 Friendly
2 2 July 2007 Barinas, Venezuela   United States 3–1 Copa América 2007
3 17 November 2010 So Kon Po, Hong Kong   Hong Kong 7–0 Friendly

Honours

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Paraguay U23

References

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  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ "U.C. Sampdoria | 201920 Edgar Barreto - U.C. Sampdoria". Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  3. ^ "UFFICIALE: Barreto alla Reggina" [OFFICIAL: Barreto to Reggina] (in Italian). tuttomercatoweb.net. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
  4. ^ "Edgar Barreto in nerazzurro" [Edgar Barreto in nerazzurro] (in Italian). atalanta.it. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Barreto, la scheda" [Barreto, the profile] (in Italian). tuttoatalanta.com. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  6. ^ Bonzanni, Luca (24 May 2011). "Top 11 Serie B - Stasera a Rimini le premiazioni, tra i presenti anche il Direttore Lorenzo Casalino" (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Tre acquisti per i rosanero" [Three purchases for Palermo] (in Italian). palermocalcio.it. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  8. ^ "Un Palermo che investe" [Investing to Palermo] (in Italian). palermocalcio.it. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  9. ^ "Official: Sampdoria sign Barreto". football-italia.net. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  10. ^ "Barreto sobre su renuncia a la Albirroja: "No me arrepiento"". Resumen de Noticias (in Spanish). 25 July 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  11. ^ a b van den Broek, Danny (15 July 2020). "NEC sluit eindelijk Edgar Barreto weer in de armen". de Gelderlander (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  12. ^ "El mensaje de los hinchas del NEC de Holanda para Édgar Barreto". 13 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Piden la vuelta de Édgar Barreto".
  14. ^ ""Cuando se trata de Édgar, el NEC siempre entra en juego" - Fútbol - ABC Color".
  15. ^ "Édgar Barreto, envuelto entre tulipanes en Holanda".
  16. ^ "Oficial: Édgar Barreto, presentado en su nuevo club".
  17. ^ "Tigo Sports Paraguay".
  18. ^ http://www.m.d10.ultimahora.com/edgar-barreto-pierde-su-regreso-al-nec-n2902372.html/amp [dead link]
  19. ^ "Édgar Barreto jugó su último partido como profesional y fue despedido a lo grande" (in European Spanish). Versus. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Sampdoria, Barreto: "A Genova anni stupendi, non escludo il ritorno"" (in Italian). CalcioNews24.com. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Édgar Barreto renuncia a la selección paraguaya". ABC Color (in Spanish). 2 August 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  22. ^ "Atenas 2004: La cumbre del deporte paraguayo" [Athens 2004: The peak of Paraguayan sport] (in Spanish). D10. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  23. ^ "Portugal Sub 23 vs Paraguay Sub 23 - Amistosos Selecciones Sub 23 2004: Toda la info, alineaciones y eventos".
  24. ^ "South America enjoys feast of friendlies". FIFA. 18 August 2005. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  25. ^ "Paraguay pick squad for Germany". BBC Sport. 15 May 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  26. ^ "Paraguay 3–1 EEUU" [Paraguay 3–1 US]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 2 July 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  27. ^ Murray, Scott (29 June 2010). "World Cup 2010: Paraguay v Japan - as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  28. ^ Steinberg, Jacob (17 July 2011). "Brazil v Paraguay - as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  29. ^ "World Cup Trivia - Fathers, Sons and Brothers, Uncles and Nephews". RSSSF. 2 October 2014. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015.
  30. ^ "Edgar Barreto » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  31. ^ Édgar Barreto at National-Football-Teams.com
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