Édgar Osvaldo Barreto Cáceres (born 15 July 1984) is a Paraguayan former 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 lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He played for the national U17, U20 and U23 teams before going on to make 60 appearances for Paraguay's senior squad. After starting his career with

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan Association football, football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero (Asunción), Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Paraguayan Primera División, Primera División titles ...

in his homeland and

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

, Barreto spent the vast majority of his career in Italy's

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. He made over 260 appearances in the competition, in service of Reggina,

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

and

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

, 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 The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, he played for the country at three

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

tournaments and two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s, finishing as runner-up in the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

Club career

Barreto started his career with Paraguayan club

, debuting in the 2002 season. The following year he made his debut in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

. in January 2004, he signed with

club

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion ...

. In the summer of 2007, Barreto agreed to a four-year contract with

Reggina Calcio Associazione Sportiva Reggina 1914, commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. They play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo and are currently playing in the Serie D leagu ...

. He played an integral part in keeping Reggina in

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 The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

, he was sold to Atalanta Bergamo. At Atalanta, Barreto missed most of his first season through injury, 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 Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

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. On 31 August 2011, Barreto moved to

on a four-year contract while a transfer fee of €5.3 million was paid to Atalanta. On 1 July 2015, Barreto signed a contract with

U.C. Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the List of football club mergers, merg ...

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

Return to NEC

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. 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 ''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running. History and profile ''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM. It l ...

'' that Barreto was an important player in NEC and still held a lot of weight in the city, with the club expressing interest in the player since the month of May. On 15 July 2020, on his 36th birthday and after 13 years in Italian football, 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. In August 2020, Barreto played his first match of the season in a 2–0 defeat to Cambuur. On 15 May 2022, he announced his retirement from football, while stating his desire to start a managerial career.

International career

Barreto debuted for the

Paraguay national football team The Paraguay national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albirroja,'' represents Paraguay in men's international Association football, football competitions, and are controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association, Asociación Paraguaya de Fút ...

in a 1–0 win over

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

on 8 June at the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held in P ...

. He played all four games as his team reached the quarter-finals. Weeks later, he was part of their squad that took home a silver medal at the

in Greece. On 4 August, before the Summer Olympics began, he played in a preparation game against the

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

in the city of

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

, resulting in a 5–0 defeat. On 17 August 2005, Barreto scored his first international goal to open a 3–0 friendly win over

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Ciudad del Este Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortened as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km east of Asunción, the capital, and i ...

. Coach Anibal Ruiz called him up for the

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

in Germany. At the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the group stage. At the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

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. Barreto was also in

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who last coached Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He ...

's squad that came runners-up to the hosts at the

in Uruguay. Again on as a substitute in the quarter-finals against holders

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, he took the first penalty after another goalless draw, sending it wide in an eventual triumph. 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.

Personal life

Barreto is the younger brother of

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Diego Barreto, who was his international teammate.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Paraguay U23 * Silver Medal at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

: 2004 Athens

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barreto, Edgar 1984 births Living people Footballers from Asunción Men's association football midfielders Paraguayan men's footballers Cerro Porteño players NEC Nijmegen players AS Reggina 1914 players Atalanta BC players Palermo FC players UC Sampdoria players Paraguayan Primera División players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Serie A players Serie B players Paraguay men's youth international footballers Paraguay men's under-20 international footballers Paraguay men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Paraguay Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Paraguay 2004 Copa América players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 Copa América players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen