Darío Anastacio Verón Maldonado (born 26 July 1979) 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He also holds Mexican citizenship. Verón spent the majority of his playing career with Universidad Nacional, where he holds the record for most appearances.

Career

Verón joined Pumas in 2003, on a transfer from the Chilean club

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a professional Chilean football league system, Chilean football club based in Calama, Chile, Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. They compete in the Primera B de Ch ...

. Verón previously played for

Club Guaraní Club Guaraní is a Paraguayan professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the ...

and

Club 12 de Octubre 12 de Octubre Football Club is a Paraguayan football club from the city of Itauguá that currently plays in the División Intermedia, the second division of Football in Paraguay. Founded in 1914, the club's home venue is Estadio Luis Alberto Sa ...

, clubs from his native country. A commanding central defender, Verón has also scored more than a dozen goals for UNAM because of his strength in the air. His nickname is "Hechicero" (The Wizard), a play on

Juan Sebastián Verón Juan Sebastián Verón (; born 9 March 1975) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current chairman of Estudiantes de La Plata, where he had served as Director of Sports. In 2004, Verón was included in the FIFA 100 list of the 125 ...

's "Brujita" (Little Witch). He has become the most experienced defensive player in the Pumas lineup after

Joaquín Beltrán Joaquín Beltrán Vargas (born 29 April 1977) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defender. He last played for Querétaro F.C. in 2010. Club career Beltran has spent most of his career with Pumas UNAM. He debuted on 2 ...

moved to

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

and Sergio Bernal announced his retirement. He has also earned some 50 caps for

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, including the Copa América tournaments of 2001, 2007, and 2011, and 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. ...

. Verón was a key part of the rigid defense that carried Paraguay to the final of the 2011 Copa América in Argentina, where he formed a sturdy central core alongside

Paulo Da Silva Paulo César da Silva Barrios (born 1 February 1980) is a Paraguayan former professional international footballer who played as a centre-back. He is one of the players in football with most official appearances ever with over 1,039 official a ...

. On occasion, he has also featured for Paraguay at right fullback.

Controversy

Verón has been accused of making

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

insults by Felipe Baloy,

Darwin Quintero Carlos Darwin Quintero Villalba (born 19 September 1987) is a Colombian professional association football, footballer who plays as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder for Categoría Primera A club Deportivo Pereira. Quinter ...

and

Michael Arroyo Michael Antonio Arroyo Mina (; born 23 April 1987) is an Ecuadorian professional association football, footballer, who plays for CA Espartanos Chanduy, Espartanos as a Winger (association football), winger or attacking midfielder. Club career E ...

Honours

Club

;Cobreloa *

Primera División de Chile 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 ...

(1): 2003 Apertura ;Pumas UNAM *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

(4): 2004 Clausura, 2004 Apertura, 2009 Clausura, 2011 Clausura *Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu: (1) 2004 *

Campeón de Campeones Campeón de Campeones () is an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic super cup between the Liga MX champions of the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments. It was initially a super cup match between the league and cup cha ...

(1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

;Olimpia *

Paraguayan Primera División The División Profesional de la Paraguayan Football Association, Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (; "Professional Division of the Paraguayan Football Association"), also known as the Primera División (; "first division"), or due to sponsorship ...

(3): 2018 Clausura, 2018 Apertura, 2019 Apertura

Individual

*Best

Centre Back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

of the tournament: 2011 Clausura

References

External links

* * People from San Ignacio, Paraguay Footballers from Misiones Department 1979 births Living people Paraguayan emigrants to Mexico Naturalized citizens of Mexico Paraguayan men's footballers Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Paraguay men's international footballers 12 de Octubre Football Club players Club Guaraní players C.D. Cobreloa footballers Club Universidad Nacional footballers Club Olimpia footballers Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Paraguayan Primera División players Chilean Primera División players Liga MX players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players Men's association football central defenders 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen {{Paraguay-footy-defender-stub