Roberto Acuña
Personal information
Full name	Roberto Miguel Acuña Cabello
Date of birth	March 25, 1972 (1972-03-25) (age 37)
Place of birth	Avellaneda, Argentina
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Rubio Ñú
Number	10
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1989–1993 1993–1994 1994–1995 1995–1997 1997–2002 2002–2006 2003–2004 2004 2007 2007 2009	Club Nacional Argentinos Juniors Boca Juniors Indepediente Zaragoza Deportivo La Coruña → Elche CF (loan) → Al Ain (loan) Rosario Central Club Olimpia Rubio Ñu	00? 0(?) 033 0(4) 031 0(3) 065 0(3) 153 (20) 014 0(0) 026 0(2) 00? 0(?) 004 0(0) 016 0(3) 007 0(1)
National team
1993–2007	Paraguay	097 0(5)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 August 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Roberto Miguel Acuña Cabello (born March 25, 1972 in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a Paraguayan footballer currently playing for Club Rubio Ñú.

Nicknamed El Toro (bull) due to his strength and dominating presence, he operated as a central midfielder.

[edit] Club career

At a young age, Acuña migrated to Paraguay, where he started playing for Club Nacional in 1989. After five years, he decided to acquire the country's citizenship to play for the national team, eventually becoming the second most capped player in Paraguay's history, second only to central defender Carlos Gamarra.

Afterwards, Acuña played four seasons back in Argentina, with Argentinos Juniors, Club Atlético Independiente and Boca Juniors, before moving to Europe in 1997, where he signed with Spain's Real Zaragoza. With the Aragonese, he was an everpresent midfield fixture, helping the side to the 2001 domestic cup, and netting 20 goals in five seasons, alone in the league.

Consequently, Acuña attracted attention from Deportivo de La Coruña, which bought the player for five years and €11, even though he was still due a five-match suspension from the previous season, where Zaragoza relegated.^[1] With the Galicians, however, Acuña never appeared more than seven times in the league during his spell, also struggling with injuries^[2] and being often loaned.^[3]

Acuña first retired in 2007, finishing his career in Paraguay with Olimpia Asunción. In 2001, he won the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year award.^[4] However, in 2009, he came out of inactivity, signing with lowly Club Rubio Ñú.

[edit] International career

Like defender Gamarra, Acuña appeared in three FIFA World Cups, and collected in total 97 caps, scoring five times.^[5]

He appeared in all the matches during those three editions, and was the first Paraguayan to be sent off in a World Cup, when he elbowed Germany's Michael Ballack in the last minute of the 0–1 round of 16 loss (for a second bookable offense).

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

• Independiente:
  • South American Supercup: 1995

• Zaragoza:
  • Spanish Cup: 2000–01

[edit] Individual

• Paraguayan Footballer of the Year: 2001

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Argentine League statistics (Spanish)
• International appearances, at RSSSF
• BDFutbol profile
• FootballLineups profile
• NationalFootballTeams data

Roberto Acuña international tournaments v • d • e Paraguay squad – 1993 Copa América 1 Chilavert • 2 Barrios • 3 Ramírez • 4 Ayala • 5 Suárez • 6 Gamarra • 7 Struway • 8 Sotelo • 9 Monzón • 10 Cabañas • 11 Torres • 12 Gómez • 13 Duarte • 14 Jara • 15 Villamayor • 16 Sanabria • 17 Acuña • 18 Nunes • 19 González • 20 Ferreira • 21 Garay • 22 Guerrero • Coach: Solalinde v • d • e Paraguay squad – 1995 Copa América 1 Ruiz Díaz • 2 Suárez • 3 Jara • 4 Villamayor • 5 Gamarra • 6 Ayala • 7 Báez • 8 Struway • 9 Cardozo • 10 Acuña • 11 Campos • 12 Battaglia • 13 Peralta • 14 Ortíz • 15 Enciso • 16 Arce • 17 Sotelo • 18 Denis • 19 Esteche • 20 Samaniego • 21 Sarabia • 22 Aceval • Coach: Kubala v • d • e Paraguay squad – 1997 Copa América 1 Chilavert • 2 Arce • 3 Ayala • 4 Espínola • 5 Gamarra • 6 Struway • 7 Ovelar • 8 Brizuela • 9 Cardozo • 10 Acuña • 11 Jara • 12 Sotelo • 13 Alcaraz • 14 R. Rojas • 15 Sarabia • 16 Villamayor • 17 Bourdier • 18 A. Rojas • 19 Gómez • 20 Soto • 21 Esteche • 22 Ruiz Díaz • Coach: Carpegiani v • d • e Paraguay squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Chilavert • 2 Arce • 3 Rivarola • 4 Gamarra • 5 Ayala • 6 Aguilera • 7 Yegros • 8 A. Rojas • 9 Cardozo • 10 Acuña • 11 Sarabia • 12 Aceval • 13 Paredes • 14 R. Rojas • 15 Benítez • 16 Enciso • 17 Brizuela • 18 Ramírez • 19 Morales • 20 Caniza • 21 Campos • 22 Ruiz Díaz • Coach: Carpegiani v • d • e Paraguay squad – 1999 Copa América 1 Tavarelli • 2 Arce • 3 Ayala • 4 Gamarra • 5 Toledo • 6 Enciso • 7 Gavilán • 8 Acuña • 9 Benítez • 10 Alvarenga • 11 Santa Cruz • 12 Villar • 13 Estigarribia • 14 Cuevas • 15 Caballero • 16 González • 17 Paredes • 18 Ovelar • 19 Suárez • 20 Cáceres • 21 Caniza • 22 Aceval • Coach: Almeida v • d • e Paraguay squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Chilavert • 2 Arce • 3 Sarabia • 4 Gamarra • 5 Ayala • 6 Struway • 7 Báez • 8 Alvarenga • 9 Santa Cruz • 10 Acuña • 11 Campos • 12 Villar • 13 Paredes • 14 Gavilán • 15 Bonet • 16 Morínigo • 17 Franco • 18 Cáceres • 19 Sanabria • 20 Cardozo • 21 Caniza • 22 Tavarelli • 23 Cuevas • Coach: Maldini v • d • e Paraguay squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Villar • 2 Núñez • 3 Toledo • 4 Gamarra • 5 Cáceres • 6 Bonet • 7 Cabañas • 8 Barreto • 9 Santa Cruz • 10 Acuña • 11 Gavilán • 12 Gómez • 13 Paredes • 14 da Silva • 15 Manzur • 16 Riveros • 17 Montiel • 18 Valdez • 19 dos Santos • 20 López • 21 Caniza • 22 Bobadilla • 23 Cuevas • Coach: Ruiz

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