Federico Javier Santander Mereles (born 4 June 1991) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Uruguayan club Nacional and the Paraguay national team.

[1] Santander started in the youth divisions of Guaraní where he excelled and was part of the under-20 squad that won the international friendly championship held in Valencia, Spain.

[4][5] In July 2012, Santander joined Argentine Primera División side Tigre on a one-year loan deal despite that Guaraní had intentions to bring him back to Paraguay.

Three days later, he scored his first goal in a 3–2 defeat against FK Jablonec as Copenhagen failed to qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage.

Wearing the number 9 as a replacement for Roque Santa Cruz, he debuted for Paraguay on 9 October 2010 in a 1–0 loss against Australia in Sydney.