Juan Escobar (Paraguayan footballer)
Paraguayan footballer (born 1995)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Juan Marcelo Escobar Chena (Spanish pronunciation: [xwam maɾˈselo eskoˈβaɾ ˈtʃena]; born 3 July 1995) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as either a centre-back or right-back for Peruvian Primera División club Melgar. He has also been part of Paraguay's U20 and U23 teams.
|
Escobar with Cruz Azul in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Marcelo Escobar Chena | ||
| Date of birth | 3 July 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Luque, Paraguay | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Melgar | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2010–2013 | Sportivo Luqueño | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2017 | Sportivo Luqueño | 97 | (1) |
| 2018–2019 | Cerro Porteño | 54 | (4) |
| 2019–2024 | Cruz Azul | 142 | (11) |
| 2024 | → Toluca (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2025 | Castellón | 9 | (0) |
| 2025–2026 | Godoy Cruz | 10 | (0) |
| 2026– | Melgar | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015 | Paraguay U20 | 4 | (0) |
| 2015 | Paraguay U23 | 4 | (0) |
| 2017–2022 | Paraguay | 12 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:12, 8 March 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 29 January 2022 | |||
Club career
Sportivo Luqueño
Born in Luque, Escobar started his career with hometown side Sportivo Luqueño. Promoted to the first team ahead of the 2014 season, he made his first team – and Primera División – debut on 16 February of that year, starting in a 3–0 away loss against Nacional Asunción.
Escobar subsequently became a regular starter for the side, and scored his first professional goal on 4 May 2016, netting his team's second in a 2–2 home draw against Sol de América.[1]
Cerro Porteño
On 28 December 2017, Escobar agreed to a five-year contract with Cerro Porteño,[2] for a rumoured fee of US$ 1 million.[3] He was a regular starter during his first campaign, playing as a central defender and partnering Marcos Cáceres.
Cruz Azul
In 2019, he joined Mexican club Cruz Azul for a fee of USD$7 million, surpassing a 20-year transfer fee record in Paraguayan football held by Roque Santa Cruz when he joined Bundesliga team Bayern Munich for USD$6.9 million in 1999.[4]
Loan to Toluca
On 31 January 2024, Escobar joined Toluca on a season-long loan.[5]
Castellón
On 11 February 2025, Castellón announced the signing of Escobar.[6]
Godoy Cruz
On 25 July 2025, Escobar joined Argentine Primera División club Godoy Cruz.[7]
International career
After representing Paraguay at under-20 level in the 2015 South American Youth Football Championship,[8] and under-23 level in the 2015 Pan American Games, Escobar was first called up to the full side on 21 June 2017, for a friendly against Mexico.[9] He made his full international debut on 1 July, starting in a 2–1 loss at the CenturyLink Field in Seattle.[10]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 14 January 2019[11]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2014 | Primera División | 21 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 0 | |||
| 2015 | 10 | 0 | — | 2[a] | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
| 2016 | 25 | 1 | — | 1[a] | 0 | — | 26 | 1 | ||||
| 2017 | 41 | 0 | — | 2[a] | 1 | — | 43 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 97 | 1 | — | 5 | 1 | — | 102 | 2 | ||||
| Cerro Porteño | 2018 | Primera División | 34 | 0 | — | 6[b] | 0 | — | 40 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 131 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 2 | ||
- Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
- Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
International
- As of 29 January 2022[12]
| Paraguay | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | ||
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 12 | 0 | ||
Honours
Cruz Azul
- Liga MX: Guardianes 2021
- Campeón de Campeones: 2021
- Supercopa de la Liga MX: 2022
- Supercopa MX: 2019
- Leagues Cup: 2019
Individual
