 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Édgar Osvaldo Barreto Cáceres[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1984-07-15)15 July 1984 (age 41) | ||
| Place of birth | Asunción, Paraguay | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Central midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Cerro Porteño | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2003 | Cerro Porteño | 26 | (4) |
| 2004–2007 | NEC | 95 | (10) |
| 2007–2009 | Reggina | 68 | (5) |
| 2009–2011 | Atalanta | 33 | (1) |
| 2011–2015 | Palermo | 122 | (7) |
| 2015–2020 | Sampdoria | 104 | (3) |
| 2020–2022 | NEC | 47 | (4) |
| Total | 495 | (34) | |
| International career | |||
| 2001 | Paraguay U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2003 | Paraguay U20 | 4 | (0) |
| 2004 | Paraguay U23 | 7 | (0) |
| 2004–2011 | Paraguay | 60 | (3) |
Medal record | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Édgar Osvaldo Barreto Cáceres (born 15 July 1984) is a Paraguayan former professionalfootballer who played as acentral midfielder. He played for the national U17, U20 and U23 teams before going on to make 60 appearances for Paraguay's senior squad.
After starting his career withCerro Porteño in his homeland andNEC in the DutchEredivisie, Barreto spent the vast majority of his career in Italy'sSerie A. He made over 260 appearances in the competition, in service ofReggina,Atalanta,Palermo andSampdoria, and retiring in 2022 after two seasons back in the Netherlands at NEC.
Barreto earned 60 caps for theParaguay national team from 2004 to 2011. After winning a silver medal at the2004 Olympics, he played for the country at threeCopa América tournaments and twoFIFA World Cups, finishing as runner-up in the2011 Copa América.
Barreto started his career with Paraguayan clubCerro Porteño, debuting in the 2002 season. The following year he made his debut in theCopa Libertadores.
in January 2004, he signed withEredivisie clubNEC Nijmegen.
In the summer of 2007, Barreto agreed to a four-year contract withReggina Calcio.[3] He played an integral part in keeping Reggina inSerie A at the end of the 2007–08 season, earning a reputation for scoring long range goals. In summer 2009, after Reggina moved toSerie B, he was sold toAtalanta Bergamo.[4]
At Atalanta, Barreto missed most of his first season through injury,[5] only returning in the last days of the season and not being able to avoid the relegation of his club in Serie B. His excellent performances in Serie B afforded the interestNapoli during the January market. He contributed to the promotion of theBergamaschi to Serie A in the2010–11 season, at the end of which he was voted into "Top 11 Serie B" players team by Italian journalists.[6]
On 31 August 2011, Barreto moved toPalermo on a four-year contract[7] while a transfer fee of €5.3 million was paid to Atalanta.[8]
On 1 July 2015, Barreto signed a contract withU.C. Sampdoria.[9]
During an interview in July 2017, Barreto affirmed that he would not return to Paraguayan football due to family reasons, although he recognized that his time at Cerro Porteño was fundamental for his career.[10]
In May 2020 he agreed the termination of his contract with Sampdoria.[11]
Upon Barreto's contract termination with Sampadoria, NEC's fans had dreamed and expressed his return. Barreto actually owned a house and three apartments that he leased in the city of Nijmegen, which was also a destination venue for his family during vacations and, on more than one occasion, Barreto manifested his wish to return to the club.[12] NEC's fans had placed a banner at the entry of the club's stadium asking Barreto to return as NEC's general manager,Wilco van Schaik, lifted the fan's hopes of Barreto returning to the club. Van Schaik had told Dutch magazineVoetbal International that Barreto was an important player in NEC and still held a lot of weight in the city,[13] with the club expressing interest in the player since the month of May.[14] On 15 July 2020, on his 36th birthday and after 13 years in Italian football,[15] Barreto returned to his first European club NEC in the Dutch second tier. Barreto signed a season-long contract with the option of extending for another season.[16][17] In August 2020, Barreto played his first match of the season in a 2–0 defeat toCambuur. On 15 May 2022, he announced his retirement from football, while stating his desire to start a managerial career.[18][19]
Barreto debuted for theParaguay national football team in a 1–0 win overCosta Rica on 8 June at the2004 Copa América. He played all four games as his team reached the quarter-finals.[20] Weeks later, he was part of their squad that took home a silver medal at the2004 Olympics in Greece.[21] On 4 August, before the Summer Olympics began, he played in a preparation game against thePortugal ofCristiano Ronaldo in the city ofAlgarve, resulting in a 5–0 defeat.[22]
On 17 August 2005, Barreto scored his first international goal to open a 3–0 friendly win overEl Salvador inCiudad del Este.[23] CoachAnibal Ruiz called him up for the2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.[24]
At the2007 Copa América in Venezuela, Barreto again played all four matches of a quarter-final finish. He scored to open a 3–1 win over theUnited States in the group stage.[25] At the2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, he came on in the 75th minute against Japan in the last 16 and scored the first attempt in the penalty shootout, as Paraguay advanced to the next round for the first time.[26]
Barreto was also inGerardo Martino's squad that came runners-up to the hosts at the2011 Copa América in Uruguay. Again on as a substitute in the quarter-finals against holdersBrazil, he took the first penalty after another goalless draw, sending it wide in an eventual triumph.[27]
On 5 August 2012, Barreto announced his international retirement for theAlbirroja. He said that he could no longer combine the long journeys with competing in Serie A.[20]
Barreto is the younger brother ofgoalkeeperDiego Barreto, who was his international teammate.[28]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| NEC | 2003–04 | Eredivisie | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 25 | 5 | ||||
| 2005–06 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 2[a] | 0 | 34 | 3 | |||
| 2006–07 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 4[a] | 0 | 33 | 2 | |||
| Total | 95 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 101 | 10 | ||
| Reggina | 2007–08 | Serie A | 36 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 38 | 4 | ||
| 2008–09 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 68 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 6 | ||
| Atalanta | 2009–10 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Serie B | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 1 | |||
| Total | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||
| Palermo | 2011–12 | Serie A | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 32 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Serie B | 34 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 4 | |||
| 2014–15 | Serie A | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 25 | 2 | |||
| Total | 122 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 7 | ||
| Sampdoria | 2015–16 | Serie A | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 32 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 2 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 30 | 3 | ||||
| 2018–19 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 0 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 104 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 5 | ||
| NEC | 2020–21 | Eerste Divisie | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | 3[b] | 0 | 33 | 3 | |
| 2021–22 | Eredivisie | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 1 | |||
| Total | 47 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 53 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 469 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 496 | 33 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paraguay | 2004 | 6 | 0 |
| 2005 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 14 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 60 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 August 2005 | Ciudad del Este, Paraguay |  El Salvador | 3–0 | Friendly | |
| 2 | 2 July 2007 | Barinas, Venezuela |  United States | 3–1 | Copa América 2007 | |
| 3 | 17 November 2010 | So Kon Po, Hong Kong |  Hong Kong | 7–0 | Friendly |
Paraguay U23
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