Recoleta's story: ousted San Lorenzo, president played, could face Boca | OneFootball

Boca already knows the path it will face in the 2026 Copa Sudamericana, a tournament it reached after finishing third in Group D of the Copa Libertadores, and it will meet O’Higgins in the round of 32. But the new detail that emerged in this afternoon’s draw is that, if it advances, it will face 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 came away with a 1-0 win to reach 8 points and move on to the next round.

The hard blow that defeat meant for the Boedo side also represented, at the same time, 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.

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

But if there was 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 player ever to appear in a Paraguayan First Division match, 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 little more in local tournaments. After the law came out, I told him: ‘Presi, but for CONMEBOL or another tournament, you’re still not banned there,’” he explained. And he added: «He’s on the Sudamericana list, but he asked to get minutes only 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 felt that it 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 internationally, CONMEBOL regulations state that a player 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 those 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 a year later it managed to stay in the top flight 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.