Cerro Porteño’s young centreback has attracted attention from the MLS and Liga MX and could well be on his way abroad soon. The azulgrana is in need of selling valuable assets due to the financial pressures of the pandemic including lost revenue from gate receipts as their stadium La Nueva Olla, the largest in the country, shutdown for over a year.

Duarte comes from footballing pedigree, his father Andrés also played for Cerro Porteño winning the league title in 1994 and before that was part of Paraguay’s Olympics team at Barcelona ’92 where he featured alongside current Cerro coach Francisco “Chiqui” Arce. His older brother Andrés Jr also plays professionally, currently at Sportivo Luqueño. The lanky central defender is nicknamed Pulpito (little octopus) after his father was baptised Pulpo (octopus) in his hometown of Areguá because of his use of arms and legs when defending to wrap up opponents. Alexis has certainly picked up some of that ability keeping a raft of top forwards quiet in his breakthrough season in 2020.

Early years and U17s World Cup

Alexis Duarte began playing in Areguá, a laid-back lakeside town about 25km outside of the capital famous for its strawberries and also arts and crafts market. He played at Club 4 de Agosto until he was 12 before trying out at Cerro Porteño’s famed academy. That was when his father played a key role, driving him daily from the family home to the Parque Azulgrana in Ypané, a 2 hour round trip.

In 2017 he was part of the Paraguay squad managed by Gustavo Morínigo that travelled to India for the U17s World Cup. He was ever present in the side that romped to three group game wins only to be sent home in emphatic fashion to a rampant United States team with Josh Sargent, Tim Weah and Sergiño Dest. He played every minute in that tournament so it was no surprise to see him ever-present in the U20s Sudamericano in 2019 as well.

Cerro Porteño breakthrough

Although he was handed his debut for the senior side in the 2018 Copa Paraguay by Spanish coach Fernando Jubero who has an eye for young talent since his days at La Masia and later managing Guaraní youth teams. The real breakthrough came in the 2020 Apertura, a result of the pandemic which had put an end to youth football (at the time of writing it still hasn’t returned in Paraguay) and also saw the tournament restart after some foreign-based players’ contracts had expired. Chiqui Arce thrust a then 20-year-old Duarte into central defence as a senior partner to then teenager Rodrigo Delvalle in a crunch game against Libertad facing Óscar Cardozo. The azulgrana won that match 2-1 and Duarte hasn’t looked back since.

2020 Apertura title

The aforementioned victory over the Gumarelo meant Duarte was two from two (having won on his league debut in 2019 against Nacional) and the Ciclón would go on to win another ten straight games with the youngster at the back. That impressive winning streak saw Chiqui Arce’s team surge from sixth to the summit and they ended the season as champions with the best defence in the division.

It was a fantastic feat for the fledgling defender, during that remarkable winning run he played alongside the more experienced Juan Patiño and was vital with his front foot anticipation and ability to cover behind. He also kept incredible discipline picking up just one yellow card in that victorious streak facing strikers with European experience such as Raúl Bobadilla, Roque Santa Cruz and the previously mentioned Tacuara Cardozo. Towards the back end of the season with fatigue setting in he did pick up five bookings in quick succession but by then the title was on its way to Barrio Obrero, the hard work had been done.

2021 Copa Libertadores and future

A first taste of senior international competition, having never represented the Albirroja men’s team, came in the 2021 Copa Libertadores and once again he was a pillar of the defence, taking part in every minute of Cerro Porteño’s eight games as they bowed out in the Last 16. Other than the 4-0 defeat in Belo Horizonte to Atlético Mineiro, where he struggled against the physical approach of Hulk, it was a strong showing in his debut season in the competition. Cerro Porteño didn’t concede except to Brazilian opposition and Pulpito only made one error leading to a shot (vs. Fluminense) in the tournament. In fact in the second leg against the Tricolor he was vital in keeping the score down with the Paraguayans otherwise disappointing around the field.

Overall he averaged over 2 tackles and 2 interceptions per game, and while he committed just one foul on average he was fouled 1.4 times per match, an indication he wasn’t out of his depth. One of the biggest testaments to his character was the home game against Atlético Mineiro where he had to show fortitude to bounce back from the performance in the Mineirão. That night Duarte was dominant, winning 6 out of 8 ground duels, making two blocks, five clearances and crucially completing 4 out of 5 long passes and making two successful dribbles from as many attempts demonstrating his composure with the ball at his feet.

All the indications from the player’s camp and local press is that the little octopus will be testing new waters sooner rather than later. At present Transfermrkt rank him as the joint fifth most valuable player in the local league but only Julio Enciso is younger.

The hope is that the young man from Areguá can follow in the footsteps of other recent central defenders such as Gustavo Gómez, Junior Alonso and Fabián Balbuena who themselves took the place of Antolín Alcaraz, Dario Verón and Paulo Da Silva who had followed on from legends Chito Ayala, Carlos Gamarra and Julio César Cáceres. The small country in the heart of South America has traditionally produced top talent at the heart of defence and Duarte is the latest off the Garra Guaraní conveyer belt.

By Ralph Hannah