Recoleta's story: knocked out San Lorenzo, president played, Boca next? | OneFootball

Boca already knows the path it will take in the 2026 Copa Sudamericana, a tournament it qualified for after finishing third in Group D of the Copa Libertadores. It will face O’Higgins in the round of 32, but the new detail that emerged in today’s noon draw is that, if it advances, it will meet Recoleta FC in the round of 16, the eye-catching club that had a great opening stage.

The Paraguayan team, in its first international experience, won Group D, which it shared with Neymar’s Santos and San Lorenzo. On the final matchday, Recoleta visited El Ciclón and took a 1-0 win to reach 8 points and move on to the next round.

That hard blow for the Boedo side at the same time represented the Paraguayans’ first victory in a tournament of this caliber, because they had drawn their previous five matches, so they arrive in the round of 16 unbeaten.

There is a familiar name for Argentine football in the squad: Marcelo Cañete. The midfielder, who came through at Boca, played for the club between 2010 and 2011 and now, at 35, continues his career in Paraguay after spells in Chilean and Brazilian football. Beyond that, he is not usually a starter.

But if there is one thing that made the institution go viral in recent months, it was the debut of Luis Vidal, its own president, in an official match. It happened last November, when the executive came on in the 91st minute in a 0-0 draw against Nacional and became the oldest footballer to play a match in the Paraguayan First Division, at 51 years, 11 months, and 20 days old.

Jorge González Frutos, the team’s coach, even admitted that he tried to convince the executive to repeat the experience on the international stage. “I’m the one who wants to force him to play. He’s already feeling down because he wanted to play a bit more in local tournaments. After the law came out, I told him: ‘Mr. President, but for CONMEBOL or another tournament, you’re not disqualified there,’” he explained. And he added: “He is on the Sudamericana roster, but he only asked to get minutes in an extreme case. Only if we are already qualified could he play.” Despite that statement, he has not played any minutes so far.

That appearance sparked controversy in his country. The Paraguayan Football Association considered that the incident affected the seriousness of the competition and approved a rule prohibiting members of club boards from being part of a team’s official lineup in tournaments organized by the entity.

Even if the coach wanted to repeat the experience on the international stage, CONMEBOL regulations establish that a footballer must be duly authorized by his national federation in order to be registered, so the president’s presence on the field could be considered an improper lineup.

Beyond the peculiarities, the Guaraní side is going through the most important moment in its history. Founded in 1931 in Asunción, it spent much of its existence in the lower divisions. The big leap came in 2024 with promotion to the First Division after more than two decades, and just one year later it managed to stay up and reach the round of 16 in the Sudamericana.

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