Paulo César da Silva Barrios (born 1 February 1980) is a Paraguayan professional

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 for 12 de Octubre in Paraguay, as a centre-back. He has previously played top-flight football in Paraguay, Italy, Argentina, England and Spain. He played for the Paraguay national team from 2000 to 2017, and is their most-capped player of all time, earning over 100 caps. He played at two World Cups and three Copa América tournaments, helping his country finish as runners-up in the 2011 Copa América. In 2015, da Silva became a naturalized Mexican citizen.

Club career

Early career

Born in

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 ...

, Da Silva started his career in the youth divisions of Atlántida Sport Club, arriving at the club at the age of 13. In 1996, da Silva reached 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 ...

with Asunción team Presidente Hayes at the age of 16.

Mexico

Before joining Toluca, da Silva played for

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

and

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

of Italy, and

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

of Argentina. He joined

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...

from Paraguayan Club Libertad for the 2003 Apertura. After making his debut, da Silva was a mainstay in Toluca's defence, starting all but one game that he has played and eventually becoming the team's captain due to his leadership on the field. In 2007, he was chosen for the "Ideal Eleven" squad of South America and in 2008 he led Toluca to the Apertura 2008 title, being chosen as the best overall player of the tournament by the Mexican media.

Sunderland

On 13 July 2009, Da Silva joined English club Sunderland on a three-year deal. Manager Steve Bruce said "I'm delighted to have signed a player of Paulo's experience. He is captain of his country and has played at the highest level in South America, so will bring leadership qualities to our side." His arrival at the Stadium of Light was followed by a long and confusing period in regards to his visa application. Da Silva was granted a work permit to play in England almost immediately, but had to wait for over a month to get his visa before it was eventually granted on 12 August. He made his debut on 24 August against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

second round, playing the whole 90 minutes of a 4–1 away win. On 12 September he made his first

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

appearance, replacing

Steed Malbranque Steed Claude Malbranque (born 6 January 1980) is a French former professional footballer. Malbranque started his professional career with Olympique Lyonnais, before moving to England in 2001, where he had spells with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur an ...

for the final ten minutes of a 4–1 home win over

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

. Da Silva was rotated throughout his first season at the club, but performed consistently when required. Manager Steve Bruce cited 'settlement' as the reason behind playing Da Silva in phases, stating he needed time to adjust to the English game and lifestyle. He was joined at the club by his international teammate

Cristian Riveros Cristian Miguel Riveros Núñez (born 16 October 1982) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays for Libertad as a defensive midfielder. A full international for Paraguay since 2005, he has earned 99 caps for his country, playing at tw ...

in May 2010. Da Silva's second season at Sunderland saw him make just three appearances, only one as a starter. His last appearance for Sunderland came in their home defeat to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

on 8 January 2011.

Real Zaragoza

Da Silva joined

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

from Sunderland on 31 January 2011 for an undisclosed fee, with his new club in 15th in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

at the time. They finished the season in 13th.

Toluca

Da Silva re-joined

on 31 May 2013 in a two-year loan deal from Pachuca. On 11 May 2015, Toluca announced they had signed da Silva permanently. In December 2015, da Silva received a Mexican naturalization to disoccupy a foreign place in Toluca's team.

Return to Paraguay

On 26 June 2017, Da Silva returned to Paraguay to play for Club Libertad In March 2020, da Silva stated that he wanted to retire at Atlántida Asunción. In December 2021, the 41-year-old da Silva announced that the 2022 season would be his last.

International career

In 1994, da Silva was selected for the Paraguay U17 national team barely aged 14. In 2000, da Silva represented Paraguay U23 at the

2000 CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2000 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament began on 19 January 2000 and was the 11th CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament. This was the 3rd tournament open to players under the age of 23 without any other restriction. There was no qualification stage and ...

. He played for Paraguay in 1997 and 1999

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

, but missed the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and Japan. However, he was named in the 23-man squad for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

in Germany. He also played at the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

in South Africa, featuring in all five of Paraguay's games in their run to the quarter-finals, and provided an assist for Sunderland teammate

in their 2–0 win against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

in the group stages.

Personal life

In December 2015, da Silva became a Mexican citizen.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each da Silva goal.''

Honours

Libertad * Primera División de Paraguay: 2002, 2003 Toluca * CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 2003 * Primera División de México: 2005 Apertura, 2008 Apertura *

Campeón de Campeones ''Campeón de Campeones'' ( es, Champion of Champions) is an annual Mexican football competition established in 1942. In its current form, the winner of the Apertura season faces the winner of the Clausura season, for both Liga MX and Liga MX Feme ...

: 2003, 2006 Individual *Chosen on the CONMEBOL Best Eleven team: 2007 *Best player of the Primera División de México: 2008

References

External links

Real Zaragoza official profile
* * *

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Paulo da 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Asunción Paraguayan footballers Association football defenders Paraguayan Primera División players Cerro Porteño players Club Libertad footballers Serie A players Serie B players A.C. Perugia Calcio players Venezia F.C. players Cosenza Calcio 1914 players Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Lanús footballers Liga MX players Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Premier League players Sunderland A.F.C. players La Liga players Real Zaragoza players C.F. Pachuca players 12 de Octubre Football Club players Paraguay under-20 international footballers Paraguay international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 Copa América players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players Paraguayan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain FIFA Century Club Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in England Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Atlántida Sport Club players