One of the 13 teams that played the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, Paraguay’s footballing history is almost a century old. 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa will be the eighth appearance for this Latin American nation. Barring 1986, 1998 and 2002, Paraguay hasn’t been able to proceed beyond the second round. Paraguay’s style of football has been mostly defensive. But the current Argentinian coach of Paraguay national football team Gerardo Martino has blended attacking style with defense And with some real talent and power in the striking half, Paraguay had one of the best World Cup qualifiers outings ever. Now a confident Paraguayan side is battle ready to capitalize on this performance and rip apart the opponents!
How They Got There?
They Floored The Might of Argentina
What a superb qualifier was it for Paraguay! Their record of winning maximum matches in the South American Zone was only equaled by Chile. With 10 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses, Paraguay earned 33 points in the 18 matches, finishing one point behind Brazil. Amazingly the Paraguayan team won 1 match more than Brazil and 2 matches more than Argentina! They netted 24 goals, the fourth best in the group and conceded only 16 goals, with only Brazil conceding lesser. The entire nation went berserk with joy when Paraguay defeated Argentina 1-0 on 9th September 2009 and booked their berth for FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
The Coach
Paraguay’s impressive performance in the qualifiers has given coach Gerardo Martino the confidence to look forward to make this World Cup their best outing. Martino was an attacking midfielder who mainly played in Argentinian club Newell’s Old Boys. After coaching some second tier Argentinian clubs, Martino took the charge of Paraguayan clubs Libertad and Cerro Porteno where he was tremendously successful and it was mainly because of this he was entrusted with coaching the Paraguayan national football team in February 2007.
The Team
Can Paraguay Break The Jinx?
The talented Paraguayan world cup squad has few key players who are expected to be pleasure to watch this World Cup. Manchester City’s striker Roque Santa Cruz will be leading the attack. Benfica’s Oscar Cardozo and Borussia Dortmund’s Nelson Haedo Valdez complete the trio of Paraguay’s attack. The duo of Atlanta’s Edgar Barreto and Sunderland’s Cristian Riveros are the main players in the midfield. The strong Paraguayan defense is led by their captain Denis Caniza, who will be making his fourth World Cup appearance. Julio Caceres and Paulo da Silva are the other defenders to watch out for. Veteran Justo Villar will be wearing the goalkeeping gloves for Paraguay in South Africa.
Challenging The Best
Many of the players in Paraguay World Cup squad still have bad memories of the 2006 Germany World Cup where the team crashed out in the first round. However, this time all these players will try to prove that they are worth performing much better. But can Gerardo Martino’s boys prove it? Will South Africa be written in golden words in Paraguay’s footballing history? The countdown for FIFA 2010 World Cup has already begun. Our questions will be soon put to rest!
Others in Group F
1. Italy
2. New Zealand
3. Slovakia
