Francisco Arce


Francisco Javier "Chiqui" Arce Rolón is a Paraguayan football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Libertad.
Arce played at the right defender position, competing a total of 61 times for the Paraguay national team between 1995 and 2004. He has the distinction of being chosen seven times as the "Ideal Team of America", thus having been nominated the most times in history. He also holds the distinction of having been selected in history as the coach on two occasions of the Paraguay national team.

Playing career

Arce started his career in Paraguay playing for his natal city club, 15 de Mayo, where he made his professional debut at the age of fifteen. The same year he was recruited by the Cerro Porteño club in the Paraguayan capital, where he won three national championships. Arce then played for Brazilian clubs Grêmio and Palmeiras and won international tournaments including the Copa Libertadores. Arce played for Paraguay in the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups and has appeared 61 times for his country. He was famous for his free kick shot technique, where he scored goals during the 2002 FIFA World Cup including a free kick against South Africa.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Arce became a coach and managed the Paraguayan second division team Club Rubio Ñú, leading the squad to the 2nd division championship in 2008.
Arce was appointed coach of the Paraguay national football team in July 2011, but due to poor results on the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, he was sacked in June 2012.
In March 2013, Arce was appointed coach of the Paraguayan Cerro Porteño. He won the Torneo Clausura in 2013 with Cerro Porteño in highly impressive form, as the club went the entire Clausura undefeated. After a 4–1 defeat to Club Guaraní on 24 August 2014 Arce left Cerro Porteño.
On 15 March 2015, Arce was appointed manager of Olimpia, the arch-rivals of his old club Cerro Porteño.
A year later he coached the Guarani club with good results, leading to his position at the Paraguay national team. In 2018, he was appointed as manager of General Díaz.

Career statistics

International

International goals for Paraguay
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.2 June 1996Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay1–02–01998 FIFA World Cup qualifying
2.8 February 1998Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay2–04–0Friendly
3.14 March 1998Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States2–22–2Friendly
4.8 November 2001Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Venezuela1–21–32002 FIFA World Cup qualifying
5.2 June 2002Busan Asiad Main Stadium, Busan, South Korea2–02–22002 FIFA World Cup

Honours

As a player

Cerro Porteño
Grêmio
Palmeiras
Individual
  • South American Team of the Year:1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002

As a coach

Rubio Ñú
Cerro Porteño
Club Olimpia|Olimpia