Dionisio Arce was born in San Juan Bautista de la Misiones on June 14 1927. He was a good forward, good technique and very fast. He however had a bad temper and this probably hampered his career. For example, he was suspended for five games due to having thrown the ball in the referee’s face during the course of the game with Sampdoria on October 22 1950.
He started playing professional football with Sportivo Luqueno and was one of the fan favourites. In 1949 he participated in the South American Championship helping Paraguay to reach the playoff with seven goals in the tournament. The tournament was a round robin and the team with most points won the tournament. In the last match of the group Paraguay beat Brazil and the two teams were tied in first place. The subsequent playoff was won by Brazil.
In 1949 his club sold him to Lazio. The Sportivo fans did everything they possibly could to block the transfer. They even cut the tires of the bus that would have taken Dionisio to Asuncion to board the plane for Rome.
With Lazio he played two seasons before being sold to Napoli. His bad temper and the dualism with his attacking team mate Norbert Hofling meant that he had to go. “The player is technically interesting, he has qualities, but he is finding it hard to settle in”, said the Lazio manager of the time Mario Sperone.
A year at Napoli was followed by a year at Sampdoria. In both seasons he did not play much. He had a longer spell with Novara, three years, with Silvio Piola as attacking companion. It was however his conflict with Helge Bronee in the 1955-56 season that characterised his stay in Piedmont. The two never got on, arguing or even ignoring each other on the pitch. This was one of the reasons Novara was relegated at the end of the season.
Arce then went to play for Torino from 1956 to 1959 but had problems even there. His last two years of professional football were with Palermo. After he quit football he stayed in Italy and became a manager of minor teams. He then opened a shop in Bracciano, near Rome, and helped out for the local team.
His son Alessandro played in the Lazio youth teams in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and Dionisio was often seen at the Stadio Olimpico supporting Lazio.
Arce played 29 games for Lazio and scored eight goals. He died at Bracciano on November 5 2000.
Appearances and goals for Lazio
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Latin Cup |
1949-50 | 8 (1) | 7 (1) | 1 |
1950-51 | 21 (7) | 21 (7) | - |
Total | 29 (8) | 28 (8) | 1 |
Sources
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