Palmeiras v Cerro Porteño: Gómez's Paraguay farewell before World Cup | OneFootball

Palmeiras and Cerro Porteño face off on Wednesday night (29) in the third round of the Libertadores group stage at Estadio General Pablo Rojas in Asunción, Paraguay. The match will be a special one for center back Gustavo Gómez.

Captain of Verdão and the Paraguayan national team, the defender will play his final match in the country before representing Paraguay at the World Cup. The national team is returning to the tournament after 16 years — its last appearance was in 2010.

At 32, Gómez will play in a World Cup for the first time, fulfilling a career dream.

Numbers and milestones

In addition to this special moment with the national team, Gustavo Gómez could also reach important milestones in a Palmeiras shirt. The center back is one win away from matching Marcos Rocha in fourth place among the players with the most victories in Libertadores history. He currently has 55 wins, alongside goalkeeper Franco Armani.

From the penalty spot, the Paraguayan is also close to another feat: he needs just one more goal to surpass Arce and stand alone as the club’s fifth-highest successful penalty taker of this century.

Verdão idol

Going through one of the best spells of his career, Gómez heads into the pre-World Cup period in top form. At Palmeiras for nearly eight years, the center back has built a remarkable legacy.

He is the player with the most titles in the club’s history, with 13 trophies, and also the center back with the most goals scored for Verdão, with 45.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.