Defensores del Chaco Stadium (, ; , named after the Paraguayan Chaco soldiers in the

Chaco War The Chaco War (, multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

Asunción Asunción (, ) 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 of Asunción in the north ...

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 ...

. Located in the Sajonia neighbourhood, it is the owned by the

Paraguayan Football Association The Paraguayan Football Association ( ; APF) (Guarani language, Guarani: ''Paraguái Mangapy Atyguasu''), is the omnibus governing body of football (soccer), football in Paraguay. It organizes the Paraguayan football league system, Paraguayan fo ...

. It is currently used mostly for

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 word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

matches. The stadium once had a 50,000+ capacity, however over the years the stadium has undergone remodeling, dropping the capacity to 42,354. It underwent renovations during 1939, 1996 and 2007. The stadium was again renovated in 2015. It has more than 100 years as a stadium. It is one of the places with most history in Paraguayan football. In 1960, the stadium was the venue of the first final of 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 ...

. The stadium receives visits from the public from Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 16:00 with free access.

History

1910s

In February 1916, the construction of the stadium began. In November 1917, its inauguration came as the name Stadium de Sajonia, with a game between Olimpia Asunción and Libertad, won 1-0 by the latter. In 1919, Paraguay's national team played its first game in the stadium and Faustino Casado marked Paraguay's first ever goal in the stadium.

1920s

After Uruguay won the Olympic gold medal in football in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

, the Paraguayan Football Association decided to rename the stadium "Uruguay" to honor the South American Nation. Later, the name was reverted to Estadio Puerto Sajonia. In August 1925, Paraguay's national team achieved its first victory in the stadium in a game against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

in the Copa Bossio.

1930s

During the Paraguay-Bolivia

Chaco War The Chaco War (, When the war finished, the stadium began its transformation process. It was renamed with the current name ''Defensores del Chaco'' (Defenders of the Chaco) in honour of the triumphant soldiers that took part in the

Chaco War The Chaco War (, 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 ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

1950s

With the money obtained from winning the 1953 Copa América, a stand made out of cement and the orientation of the pitch changed from north to south.

1960s

In 1960, the stadium was the venue of the first final of the

, played between Olimpia Asunción and

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

. In 1967, the stadium inaugurated its illumination system in a friendly encounter between Paraguay and Argentina.

1970s

In 1971, the stadium hosted the first national youth team title when Paraguay won the Torneo Juventud de América, replaced by the current

South American Youth Championship South American Youth Championships may refer to: * South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American foo ...

. In 1972, culminated is the ampliation of the northern sector and the offices of the

Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol The Paraguayan Football Association ( ; APF) (Guarani language, Guarani: ''Paraguái Mangapy Atyguasu''), is the omnibus governing body of football (soccer), football in Paraguay. It organizes the Paraguayan football league system, Paraguayan fo ...

are moved to the stadium. In 1973, the east stand begins being constructed. In 1974, the stadium is renamed Defenders of the Chaco. In 1979, Paraguay wins the Copa América and Olimpia wins the Copa Libertadores in the stadium.

1980s

In 1983, the stadium sees the game of mayor assistance with a crowd of 49, 095 attending the Superclásico between Cerro Porteño and Olimpia Asunción.

1990s

In 1992, Paraguay's under-23 olympic team claimed the title of Pre-Olympic Tournament at the stadium. In 1999, the stadium was one of the main venues for the

1999 Copa América The 1999 Copa América was a football tournament held in Paraguay, from 29 June to 18 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. In order to bring the number of competing teams to twelve, CONMEBOL invited CONCAC ...

Actuality

The stadium is not owned by a team (it is a

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

) and it is used primarily to host the home games of 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 ...

and for international football club tournament games such as the

and the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

. The new millennium brought modernization like construction of the VIP stalls, the ampliation of the boxes, stands and the installation of the luminic LED lights, to be at the level of the best sports stadiums in the continent.

Tenants

The

plays their home fixtures at the stadium during FIFA World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies. Local clubs such as

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a Paraguayan professional football club based in Asunción that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Founded in 1905, Liber ...

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 Olimpia Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan professional sports club based in the city of Asunción. It promotes the practice of various sports, with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, football being the most successful. Fou ...

often play their home games at the stadium for Primera División Paraguaya,

and

fixtures.

Accidents and incidents

*1 February 2009; two anti-riot police officers were killed and five injured when they were struck by a

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

block that was part of the stadium. The cement block fell from a height of seven meters. The football match taking place during the collapse was delayed 40 minutes.

Other events

Gallery

File:Estadio defensores.JPG, Exterior of the stadium. File:Hinchada Olimpia 27-3-2011.jpg, Fans of Club Olimpia Asunción. File:Hinchada de Olimpia 27-3-2011.jpg, Fans of Club Olimpia Asunción. File:Defensores del Chaco.JPG, The stadium during a match between

Olimpia Asunción Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan professional sports club based in the city of Asunción. It promotes the practice of various sports, with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, football being the most successful. Fou ...

and 3 de Febrero in 2011

References

External links

Worldstadiums.com Stadium Profile

Paraguayan Football Association WebsiteStadium pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Defensores del Chaco Football venues in Asunción National stadiums Sports venues in Asunción Multi-purpose stadiums in Paraguay Sports venues completed in 1917