Saturnino Arrúa during a visit to the Nación Media studios. Photo: Nation Media-file.
Saturnino ‘Nino’ Arrúa turns 74 today. By dint of talent, goals and determination, he became an icon of Cerro Porteño. He also shone in the Paraguayan national team and in Zaragoza in Spain.
The ‘Nino’ was born on a day like today, but in the year 1949, in the city of Itá.
Was a complete “10” who came to the rival area from behind, putting together plays and also defining in front of the rival goalkeepers.
He began his career at Sportivo Iteño, at the age of 14in 1963 and the following year He ended up in the Cyclone to integrate the lower divisions. He debuted in the first azulgrana, in 1967when he was barely 18 years old. The coach who launched it was Egidio Landolfi and from the first game he put on the 10 jacket, which was the number he never abandoned throughout his fruitful career.
In his second match in Primera he already had Olimpia as a rival, in the all-time classic and Arrúa scored a goal. He is the player who scored the most goals in the classics, reaching 11, seven for official tournaments and four in the Copa Libertadores.
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He was the greatest exponent of that remembered team that the fans of Cerro called, “El Ciclón 70 devastates”, which for many was the best set in the entire history of the cerrista. In that 1970 season, Arrúa was champion for the first time with his beloved Cerro Porteño and was also the absolute top scorer in the tournament, with 11 victories.
Arrúa was the author of the first goal in the Catalan Olla, in a match that Cerro beat Silvio Pettirossi, 2-1, played on Sunday, May 24, 1970, when the cerrista venue was inaugurated.
Leading the Azulgrana, he would win another two championships, in 1972 and 1973, before traveling to Spain to join Zaragoza. In 1972, El Nino was once again the championship scorer, scoring 17 goals.
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The “10” played 147 local games at the Cyclone and scored 55 goals. In the Copa Libertadores he played 29 games and scored 13 goals.
The red white he also had it as captain, symbol and scorer debuting at age 20, in 1969. He was part of the national team 35 times achieving 13 conversions. was ppresent in the qualifiers for Mexico 70 and Germany 74, he also played the Mini Cup played in Brazil, in 1972, in addition to 25 friendly matches.
In 1971 he had an unsuccessful transfer to Nancy of France and only in 1973, at the end of the qualifying rounds against Argentina and Bolivia, did he go to Spain to play for Real Zaragoza. He was a member of the famous “Zaraguayos”, along with other compatriots who served on that team, such as Carlos “Lobo” Diarte and Felipe Santiago Ocampo.
After six seasons at Zaragoza, the idol returned to Ciclón in 1979 and the following year he went to Guaraní.
In the years 1981 and 82 he was in América de Cali and concluded his career in 1984, winning the National Interleague championship with the San Pedro League. A short time later he returned to Cerro Porteño and when he was about to reappear, the board of directors offered him the position left by Silvio Parodi, thus starting the career of technical director.
