Juan Marcelo Escobar Chena (Spanish pronunciation: [xwan maɾˈselo eskoˈβaɾ t͡ʃena]; born 3 July 1995) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as either a centre-back or right-back for Liga MX club Cruz Azul and the Paraguay national team. Escobar held the highest transfer fee in Paraguayan football from 2019 to 2022, when he joined Cruz Azul.[1]
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Juan Marcelo Escobar Chena | ||
Date of birth | (1995-07-03) 3 July 1995 (age 27) | ||
Place of birth | Luque, Paraguay | ||
Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
Position(s) | Centre-back, right-back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Cruz Azul | ||
Number | 24 | ||
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– | Cruz Azul | 108 | (11) |
National team‡ | |||
2015 | Paraguay U20 | 4 | (0) |
2015 | Paraguay U23 | 4 | (0) |
2017– | Paraguay | 12 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:17, 20 September 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:46, 29 January 2022 (UTC) |
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.[2]
On 28 December 2017, Escobar agreed to a five-year contract with Cerro Porteño,[3] for a rumoured fee of US$ 1 million.[4] He was a regular starter during his first campaign, playing as a central defender and partnering Marcos Cáceres.
In 2019, he joined Mexican club Cruz Azul for a fee of USD$7, 000, 000.00, 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, 900, 000.00 in 1999.[5]
After representing Paraguay at under-20 level in the 2015 South American Youth Football Championship,[6] 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.[7] He made his full international debut on 1 July, starting in a 2–1 loss at the CenturyLink Field in Seattle.[8]
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Sportivo Luqueño | 2014 | Primera División | 21 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 0 | |||
2015 | 10 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
2016 | 25 | 1 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 26 | 1 | ||||
2017 | 41 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | — | 43 | 1 | ||||
Total | 97 | 1 | — | 5 | 1 | — | 102 | 2 | ||||
Cerro Porteño | 2018 | Primera División | 34 | 0 | — | 6[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 40 | 0 | ||
Career total | 131 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 2 |
Paraguay | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals | ||
2017 | 1 | 0 | ||
2019 | 5 | 0 | ||
2021 | 5 | 0 | ||
2022 | 1 | 0 | ||
Total | 12 | 0 |
Cruz Azul
Individual
Cruz Azul – current squad | |
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Paraguay squad – 2019 Copa América | ||
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