Francisco Arce

Francisco Javier "Chiqui" Arce Rolón (; born 2 April 1971) is a Paraguayan football manager and former player.

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 (Asuncion), 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 Club Source:

International Source:

International goals for Paraguay Score and results list Paraguay's goal tally first. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 2 June 1996 Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying 2. 8 February 1998 Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay Friendly 3. 14 March 1998 Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States 4. 8 November 2001 Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Venezuela 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying 5. 2 June 2002 Busan Asiad Main Stadium, Busan, South Korea 2002 FIFA World Cup

Honours

As a player Cerro Porteño Liga Paraguaya: 1991, 1992, 1994

Grêmio Copa Libertadores: 1995 Recopa Sudamericana: 1996 Rio Grande do Sul State Championship: 1995, 1996 Brazilian Série A: 1996 Brazilian Cup: 1997 Intercontinental Cup runner-up: 1995

Palmeiras Brazilian Cup: 1998 Mercosur Cup: 1998 Copa Libertadores: 1999 Brazilian Champions Cup: 2000 Rio-São Paulo Tournament: 2000 Intercontinental Cup runner-up: 1999

Individual South American Team of the Year :1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002

As a coach Rubio Ñú Paraguayan 2nd division: 2008

Cerro Porteño Paraguayan 1st division: 2013 (undefeated), 2020, 2021

Club Olimpia|Olimpia Paraguayan 1st division: 2015