Gustavo Costas returns to Cerro Porteño nearly two decades later to reunite with a club in need of a spark

Nearly twenty years later, Gustavo Costas is once again walking the halls of Barrio Obrero as head coach. Cerro Porteño confirmed his return this Friday, doing so with a direct message: "Welcome back to the Barrio, Profe Costas!", the Paraguayan club posted on its social media.

The announcement came just hours after the blue and red club confirmed the departure of Ariel Holan, whom it thanked "for the work, the commitment and the dedication shown from day one." The exit was no coincidence: Cerro had just lost the clasico to Olimpia and needed a change of course. And who better for that than someone who already knows the house?

Because Costas is no stranger to Cerro. Quite the opposite. Between 2005 and 2007, he already coached the club and won the 2005 Paraguayan Championship, lifting that year's Apertura as well as the Clausura titles in 2005 and 2006. In total he took charge of 117 matches, with 67 wins, 26 draws and 24 losses: a win rate of 64.67 percent that is still fondly remembered around the neighborhood.

After that stint, the former Argentine defender stayed connected to Paraguayan soccer: he had a spell at Olimpia in 2008 and another at Guaraní between 2019 and 2021. His most recent job was at Racing, the club of his life, with which he won the 2024 CONMEBOL Sudamericana and the 2025 CONMEBOL Recopa. Leaving Racing can't have been an easy call, but Paraguay seems to carry a different weight in his story.

Before traveling, Costas had already made clear how excited he was about what was coming. He spoke of a country that left a mark on him and that, in his words, holds a special place in his career.

"People know very well how much I love Paraguay. It's the country that opened the doors for me to work, and from that moment on the Paraguayan people always treated me very well"Gustavo Costas

"Coming back to a place where I spent two and a half amazing years. We won championships, but beyond that, it's about how the people always treated me. It's a beautiful challenge"Gustavo Costas

A Cerro that needs to respond

The challenge he finds now is different from the one in 2005. This Cerro Porteño sits ninth among the 12 teams in the Paraguayan championship, a position that would trouble any fan of a club with this kind of history. Even so, Costas didn't want to dramatize things and was clear about what lies ahead.

"The team is fine at this moment, but that's what we're working toward. You always have to pick things up. Cerro can't be like this, it's a big club. The guys know they have to give a little more, all of them. You can never settle or throw in the towel. My teams play with intensity," the coach explained.

At 63 years old, Costas arrives with a resume few coaches in the region can match: he has been a champion in Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina. Now, the challenge is to turn this uncomfortable, mid-table Cerro back into a team that looks like a giant again. The story between him and the club already has one chapter written with titles; what remains to be seen is how the second one is written.