Marcelo Alejandro Estigarribia Balmori (born 21 September 1987) is a Paraguayan
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who plays as a
left winger
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
Sol de América in the
Primera División Paraguaya
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...
.
Estigarribia has been known since youth as ''Chelo'', as a diminutive of his name Marcelo.
He also has an
Italian passport
An Italian passport is issued upon request to an Italian citizen for the purpose of international travel. It is valid for 10, 5 or 3 years, depending on the applicant's age. Its biometric version has been available since 2006. It is ranked as ...
by way of his mother. At club level, Estigarribia has played for teams in Paraguay, France, Uruguay, Argentina, Italy, and Mexico. At international level, he has represented the
Paraguay national football team
The Paraguay national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Paraguay) represents Paraguay in men's international Association football, football competitions, and are controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association (Asociación Paraguaya ...
, and was member of the squad that finished second at the
2011 Copa América.
Biography
Estigarribia was born and raised in
Fernando de la Mora, one kilometer away from the Paraguayan capital
Asunción
Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay.
The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...
.
He comes from a strongly
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
family.
Club career
Club Unión Pacífico
Estigarribia started his career in the youth divisions of Club Unión Pacífico before moving to
Sport Colombia where he made his professional debut at the age of 17.
Le Mans
In 2006, Estigarribia moved to Paraguayan side
Cerro Porteño
Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...
, and in August 2008 he was transferred to
Le Mans of the
Ligue 1.
Newell's Old Boys
On 27 December 2009, Estigarribia signed for
Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football.
A ...
on loan from Le Mans for 18 months. In June 2011, it was reported by the ''
Daily Record'' that
Scottish Premier League club
Rangers were chasing Estigarribia when their boss
Ally McCoist
Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit.
McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland in ...
spent a week scouting in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
Juventus
On 28 August 2011, Estigarribia moved to
Juventus F.C.
)''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback)
, founded = as Sport-Club Juventus
, ground = Juventus Stadium
, capacity = 41,507
, owner = Agnell ...
on a season loan for a €500,000 fee, with an option of making the transfer permanent for €5 million at the end of the season, from a proxy club
Deportivo Maldonado
Club Deportivo Maldonado is a football club from Maldonado, Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan Primera División following their promotion from the Uruguayan Segunda División at the end of the 2019 season.
History
Club Deportivo ...
. He made his debut as a substitute against
Chievo
Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige.
It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...
and got his first start against
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
. He scored his first goal for Juventus against
Napoli
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
where the match ended in a 3–3 tie.
Sampdoria
On 4 August 2012, Estigarribia moved to
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa.
The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...
on a season-long loan for a €700,000 fee, with the option of making his stay with Sampdoria permanent for €5 million at the end of the season. He made his debut with ''Blucerchiati'' against
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...
, winning 0–1.
Chiapas
On 25 January 2017, Estigarribia joined
Liga MX side
Chiapas
Colón
On 22 August 2017, Estigarribia joined Argentine club
Club Atlético Colón
Club Atlético Colón de Santa Fe (), commonly referred to as Colón de Santa Fe , is a sports club from Santa Fe, Argentina. The football team plays in the First Division of the Argentine football league system, the Argentine Primera Divisió ...
.
Olimpia Asunción
In January 2021, it was announced that Estigarribia signed a one-year agreement with
Olimpia Asunción. The club announced the signing through its official website.
His arrival at the club was through a request of the coach, the Argentine
Nestor Gorosito, who stated that Estigarribia can be used in three positions.
International career
Estigarribia received his first senior international cap for
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
in a friendly match against
Ivory Coast on 22 May 2008. He scored his first international goal in a friendly match against
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
on 31 March 2010. His performances in the
2011 Copa América, where Paraguay went on to reach the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
of the tournament, only to lose out 3–0 to
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, prompted Italian giants Juventus to make a move for him.
Career statistics
Club
International goals
, -
, 1. , , 31 March 2010 , ,
Defensores del Chaco
Estadio Defensores del Chaco is a multi-purpose stadium in Asunción, Paraguay. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium once had a 50,000+ capacity, however over the years the stadium has undergone remodeling, dropping the ...
,
Asuncion, Paraguay , , , , 1–0 , , 1–1 , , Friendly
Honours
Juventus
*
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
: (1)
2011–12
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Argentine Primera statisticsat Fútbol XXI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estigarribia, Marcelo
1987 births
Living people
People from Fernando de la Mora, Paraguay
Paraguayan people of Basque descent
Paraguayan footballers
Paraguayan expatriate footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Cerro Porteño players
Le Mans FC players
Newell's Old Boys footballers
Juventus FC players
UC Sampdoria players
A.C. ChievoVerona players
Atalanta BC players
Chiapas F.C. footballers
Club Atlético Colón footballers
Deportivo Maldonado players
Club Olimpia footballers
Club Sol de América footballers
Paraguayan Primera División players
Uruguayan Primera División players
Ligue 1 players
Argentine Primera División players
Serie A players
Liga MX players
Paraguay men's international footballers
Paraguay men's under-20 international footballers
2011 Copa América players
Expatriate footballers in France
Expatriate footballers in Argentina
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Mexico
Expatriate footballers in Uruguay
Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in France
Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina
Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico
Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay