WORLD CUP 2006
Paraguay
Introduction
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Paraguay stride into their seventh World Cup with the confidence that this one might be their best ever. For the first time they have made it to three successive tournaments. They reached the second round in both 1998 and 2002, and now their sights are set still higher.
Such ambitions are extraordinary for an impoverished country with a population of little over five million. But Paraguayan football is a remarkable phenomenon. They have always known how to turn adversity into strength – the poor quality of local pitches has made heading a traditional strength, and their team spirit and quiet, dogged resistance have long been feared in South America.
Now, though, the Paraguayans have added new strings to their bow. The technical level of the domestic game has made a dramatic advance. Perhaps it has something to do with the end of the hideously stifling dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner in the early 1990s.
A people more able to express themselves in life may find it easier to express themselves on the football field. Certainly the progress has a lot to do with the excellence of the youth development work being carried out in the country. Somehow the resources are found to provide for extensive tournaments and leagues for teenage talent, even though some senior top division games attract crowds of well under 1,000.
All this filters through to the national team. Paraguay have a fair record in recent World Youth Cups and were
semi-finalists five years ago. They took silver at the 2004 Olympics, and last year the senior side clinched their place in Germany having just been rebuilt with the introduction of a highly promising group of young players.
The good times began with qualification for the 1992 Olympics. As this generation grew older there were fears that 2002 would mark the end of Paraguay’s period of success. This has proved unfounded. Instead, the side now contains a very interesting blend of veterans (Carlos Gamarra, Denis Caniza, Roberto Acuna, Carlos Paredes and Jose Cardozo go back to France 98), players from the 2002 squad who should now be at their peak (Justo Villar, Julio Cesar Caceres, Carlos Bonet, Nelson Cuevas and Roque Santa Cruz), and a bright new generation spearheaded by Nelson Haedo Valdez, Julio Dos Santos and Edgar Barreto.
Unusually for Paraguay, defending in the air could be a problem in Germany. There is a lack of height in goal and at the heart of the defence, which both England and Sweden could expose.
Providing this potential weak point is adequately protected, Paraguay have the resources to justify their pre-tournament optimism. Their resilience can keep them in with a chance in games where they are in danger of being overrun. They carry a threat from set-pieces, and are always capable of sneaking a goal at a vital moment.
They now also boast a depth of attacking resources they have not always had, especially as it seems that Bayern Munich striker Santa Cruz is on the way to making a complete recovery from his knee problems. Paraguay, then, are not going to win the
World Cup. But any side that underestimate them could find themselves in for a nasty shock.
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