World Cup preview: Paraguay
Coach: Gerardo Martino
Key player: Óscar Cardozo
Previous best: Second round 1986, 1998 & 2002
Just one point behind Brazil and five ahead of Argentina in qualifying, when they beat both, Paraguay enter the World Cup as perhaps the least fancied of the South American nations, but with players capable of causing anyone problems.
Roque Santa Cruz may have just had a season in which he all too regularly became frequented with the Manchester City substitutes’ bench, but in Óscar Cardozo, Lucas Barrios and Cristian Riveros this side can still score goals.
Cardozo hit the back of the net 38 times in 2009/10 – including twice against Everton and three times against Liverpool in the Europa League – while Argentinian-born Barrios was the third-highest goalscorer in the Bundesliga with 19 goals for Borussia Dortmund, and creative winger Riveros has just joined Sunderland for next season.
He’ll joined fellow countryman Paulo da Silva on Wearside, and although the centre-back didn’t feature much for Steve Bruce in the last campaign, he is still a key performer for his country. He’ll line up alongside veteran defender Denis Caniza, who could pass 100 caps for his country at the finals, while 32-year-old Valladolid goalkeeper Justo Villar offers safe pair of hands.
Younger members of the squad will be important too, with exciting forwards Édgar Benitez and Rodolfo Gamarra both tipped as stars of the future, and included in this squad.
Argentinian coach Gerardo Martino has won the Paraguayan league with two clubs and was voted South American Coach of the Year in 2007. Still only 47, he has brought a freshness and directness to this Paraguayan side that European observers wouldn’t have seen before.
A first-round exit at the last World Cup – where things never improved after Carlos Gamarra’s own goal just three minutes into their opening game against England – didn’t go down too well in Paraguay after two successive second-round appearances, and they are likely to face stiff competition from Slovakia for the runners-up spot this time around.
With holders Italy the firm favourites to progress from Group F, progression for Paraguay could come down to their second match against the Slovaks in Bloemfontein on June 20th. Victory for either side there could be enough to earn a place in the second round.
How much further they’d go is questionable, but the Paraguayans will certainly entertain at the finals, and have a side that looks full of goals.
Defensively they are vulnerable though, and it is that vulnerability that could cost them during the group stages.
A silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics remains their greatest footballing success, and they look unlikely to dramatically improve upon that this time around, but they will at least enthral, entertain and end up as one of the neutrals favourites.
Any more is beyond their reach though.
Paraguay squad
1 Justo VILLAR (Valladolid)
2 Darío VERÓN (Pumas)
3 Claudio Morel RODRÍGUEZ (Boca Juniors)
4 Denis CANIZA (Leon)
5 Julio César CÁCERES (Atletico Mineiro)
6 Carlos BONET (Olimpia)
7 Óscar CARDOZO (Benfica)
8 Édgar BARRETO (Atalanta)
9 Roque SANTA CRUZ (Manchester City)
10 Édgar BENITEZ (Toluca)
11 Jonathan SANTANA (Wolfsburg)
12 Diego BARRETO (Cerro Porteno)
13 Enrique VERA (Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito)
14 Paulo DA SILVA (Sunderland)
15 Víctor CÁCERES (Libertad)
16 Cristian RIVEROS (Cruz Azul)
17 Aureliano TORRES (San Lorenzo de Almagro)
18 Nelson Haedo VALDEZ (Borussia Dortmund)
19 Lucas BARRIOS (Borussia Dortmund)
20 Néstor ORTIGOZA (Argentinos Juniors)
21 Antolín ALCARAZ (FC Bruges)
22 Aldo BOBADILLA (Deportivo Independiente de Medellin)
23 Rodolfo GAMARRA (Libertad)
For previews of Paraguay's Group F opponents click here:
http://www.senore.com/World-Cup-2010-preview-Italy-a12465
http://www.senore.com/World-Cup-2010-preview-New-Zealand-a12466
http://www.senore.com/World-Cup-2010-preview-Slovakia-a12468
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