Paraguay Football Fans

Paraguay would be disappointed that they could not beat Brazil side after having lead 2-0 in the game.

Indeed, a late Dani Alves goal denied them a famous victory over their rival.

The match started well for Paraguay, and they took the lead in the 39th minute when Dario Lezcano connected with an Edgar Benitez cross. His shot rebounded off the ground above all the defenders and deceived the goalkeeper. This allowed Paraguay to lead Brazil at half-time.

In an attempt to boost his attack, the Brazilian coach Dunga will send Hulk on the pitch after the break, but it would be Paraguay that will strike again. This time, it was Benitez, the scorer. With the Brazilian defence appealing for offside, Benitez will recover the ball at the edge of the box and beat the goalkeeper with a precise shot.

Brazil will come back into the game and started creating chances after the chances. They will score a goal in the 62 minutes, but it would be disallowed because the scorer Gil will be penalized for climbing over his marker.

But they will ultimately get a goal with 12 minutes remaining in the match. The Paraguay goalkeeper, Justo Villar will fail to catch on Hulk thunderous shot and the ball will fall back to Ricardo Oliveira, The latter will not miss the target and made the score 2-1.

And in the injury time, it was Dani Alves that would score the equalizing goal. He will receive the ball in the box and after a fantastic control, he will unleash a curling shot that gave Villar no chance.

Dani Alves was pleased with the way his team performed especially after going 2 goals down and believes the fighting attitude will ultimately help Brazil improve their game.

Paraguay has earned a deserved draw against Ecuador in Quito on Friday in their World Cup qualifying game.

Ecuador, who is unbeaten on home soil for 18 matches in World Cup qualifiers, earned a point late in the game thanks to a goal from Angel Mena.

Ecuador did start the game brilliantly and had multiple opportunities to open the scoring. Christian Noboa had the first opportunity to open the scoring for Ecuador only to find himself denied by the Paraguay’s keeper, Justo Villar.

In an entertaining match, Paraguay also had their chances early on with Jorge Benitez missing a good opportunity to score.

It is Ecuador who opened the score in the match in the 20th minutes thanks to a goal by West Ham player Enner Valencia. Noboa fired a shot from 25 yards which hit the post and Valencia was the first man on the rebound. After a wonderful chest control, he placed the ball beyond the reach of Villar to put Ecuador in front.

Paraguay was not discouraged by the goal and instead continued to create opportunities of their own. The best opportunity to equalized came in the 32nd minute with a free-kick where Bruno Valdez header went wide of the target. Paraguay finally managed to equalize in the 38th minute through Dario Lezcano. Ortigoza managed to find Edgar Benitez with a superb pass to start a brilliant counter attack. Benitez escapes Dominguez challenge to pass the ball to Lezcano for a tap in.

After the break, both teams continue to create goal scoring opportunities but it is Lezcano who scored his second goal to give Paraguay the lead in the match. He escaped the challenge from Erazo and Achiller and beat Dominguez with a great finish.

The match stayed the same until the goal from Mena seven minutes from time. Mena chipped the ball over the Paraguay keeper after a magnificent ball from Noboa to keep Ecuador unbeaten record intact.

When Paraguay’s Roque Santa Cruz made a return to his former club Malaga, he was a fairly consistent player as he was getting time in the pitch in just about every single game of the Spanish club but things have taken a turn for the worst as the Paraguayan attacker has been dropped to the sidelines and he time in the pitch is starting to be limited.

Santa Cruz recently reached a milestone as he reached his 100th appearance with Malaga but the time that he has spent in the Spanish club since having joined back in August of 2015 has not been so impressive but things could change soon for the Paraguayan player as he has received interest from another club who might launch an offer for the veteran player when the summer transfer window re-opens in the summer.

Club Olimpia has shown interest in signing the 34 year old Paraguayan player and the chairman of the club Marco Trovato has confirmed their desire to sign Roque Santa Cruz as he said: ‘’Everything will depend on Cruz Azul, but I have already offered proposal’s to Roque Santa Cruz as well as Aproniano (his father) and have told them that our doors are opened for them as they can help the club in achieving big things’’

Marco Trovato continued on saying that the financial aspect of the transaction is not the main problem in relation to signing Roque Santa Cruz but the principal thing is if whether or not Cruz Azul is interested in letting the experienced player leave the club.

Roque Santa Cruz is currently performing for Malaga but hes on a loan deal from the Mexican side Cruz Azul and they have the final say in whether or not he will be leaving the club anytime soon.

Paraguayan striker Hernan Perez claimed that Espanyol need to be more consistent with their performances if they are to rise up the table.

The striker was speaking after the Spanish club could only manage a 1-1 draw against Levante. The Spanish club have managed only two wins in the last five matches. At this rate, they will struggle to even finish in the top half of the table. Doing well is extremely important for the Catalan club given that their archrivals Barcelona are flying high this season. Perez says that concentration – or the lack of it – appears to be the main problem for Espanyol at this stage.

Perez has more often been a first-team regular for the club. He has come on from the bench in only two out of the 14 league games he has represented the team this season.

Espanyol have been able to get a decent return from the 25-year-old striker, who has four goals and one assist to his name. This is an impressive tally considering that manager Gâlcă has been deploying him as an attacking midfielder either on the right or on the left. His goal return is expected to improve if he plays up front for the team. It remains to be seen if the club can return to winning ways when they take on Celta de Vigo this weekend.

“Every week we work and we know what to do, but it’s true that sometimes need a little more concentration by all and give a little more. There are times when the fans also influences a little, because it seems to rush to want to always go with the ball. Sometimes we have to wait our time to find the gaps. I do not like losing and when it happens, I suffer a lot,” said the Paraguayan.

Paris St Germain manager Laurent Blanc feels that there is no reason why striker Edinson Cavani cannot coexist with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Both these players have huge egos but it is the former who has lost out a place as the striker.

Ibrahimovic continues to be the main forward at the French club despite his age, which is approaching 35. Cavani, meanwhile, is at the best period of his career, but manager Laurent Blanc has persisted with utilising the forward in a wide position. Cavani has been subjected to several transfer rumours as a result of this unhappiness, but a move is yet to materialise.

However, there are finally signs that who are starting to get along well with each other. Ibrahimovic and Cavani formed a great partnership in the recent win over Saint Etienne. They have taken their tally for the campaign to seven with goals in this game. Summer signing Angel di Maria may not have scored in this match, but he was at the centre of everything good created by the French outfit. PSG are now odds on favourite to win the league title by a comfortable margin after they opened a four-point advantage even at this early stage. The big challenge for PSG will come in the European competitions.

“Everybody has now seen that our attackers are complementary when they have the desire to play together.They have different characteristics and qualities, but what matters most is their presence on the pitch, regardless of their statistics. They did very well.Di Maria put in a great performance in the second half as well.We have some great players and he is one of them. We have to be patient with him,” said Blanc. PSG will have to quickly forget this impressive performance and focus on beating Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Paraguay manager Ramon Diaz claims that he will not be talking with his opposition manager Dunga even though he has a great friendship with the Brazil national team coach.

The duo played together during their time in Italian football. Hence, this friendship goes back several years, but it will be put aside when Paraguay and Brazil come against each other in the Copa America quarter-finals. Paraguay are surprise entrants at this stage of the competition, but they are not expected to last much longer. Brazil are overwhelming favourites to win their first Copa America since 2007.

A confidence inspiring aspect for Paraguayan team will be their draws against Argentina and Uruguay – two teams that were considered as one of the favourites to win the title itself. After having managed to a 1-1 draw against Argentina in the opening game, Paraguay went on to secure a 2-2 draw against Uruguay. Their only victory so far the tournament was a narrow 1-0 over minnows Jamaica. They reached the knockout stages at the expense of Uruguay. After Argentina seal a win over the Uruguayans on penalties, Diaz will be taking his team out onto the pitch knowing that his team can set up a semi-final game against Argentina.

“It’s not a friendship from now but from a long time ago.We have been out to eat together a lot of times and we have a great relationship.Dunga is a great coach and I congratulate him because he has changed Brazil a lot. They will be a tough and difficult rival but friendship doesn’t count here.To be representing an entire country and what that means, the future of these players. We are going to give everything we can to try to make it through. We want to advance, and this is a final for us,” said Diaz.

2014 was not the year of Paraguay in relation to football as the South American country failed to qualify and compete in the 2014 World Cup, this was something that had not happened to them since 1994 as Paraguay was able to qualify in 4 successive occasions starting from the 1998 World Cup up until the 2010 which was their last one.

During the 2010 edition of the World Cup, the Paraguayan national football team even managed on making it into the quarter-finals which was the best placement in the history of the national side.

The Paraguayan side appeared to be going through a very clear progression system as the team reached the finals of the Copa America in 2011 before being eliminated by Uruguay which was the national side that emerged as the victors from the tournament.

From there on out, things began to slowly crumble for the Paraguayan nation as Gerardo Martino decided to step down from his managerial position in the team and Paraguay finished in the last spot of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification in the CONMEBOL.

A total of 16 matches were played and Paraguay only managed on claiming 3 victories and lost 10 matches while drawing 3 games. After all of the games were played, Paraguay and Bolivia finished at the bottom spot with each team only being able to collect 12 points.

Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina were the nations that managed to secure their qualifying ticket into the group stages of the 2014 World Cup meanwhile Paraguay missed their chance to qualify for the international competition for the first time in over 10 years.

Former River Plate manager Ramon Diaz has been given the opportunity to manage Paraguay and get in the team back to the lofty heights achieved during the 2010 World Cup.

Much was expected from this tiny South American nation after they reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Buoyed by the presence of a top-class strikers like Roque Santa Cruz, they were expected to make an impact at the 2014 edition in their own continent. This was not supposed to be the case after they even failed to reach the finals following a poor qualification campaign.

Paraguay took the decision to sack their former manager Gerardo Pelusso in 2013 after having witnessed the team crumble during the qualification. Victor Genes was placed as a caretaker manager for the last few months. This was also seen as an opportunity for Paraguay to look at Victor Genes as a potential candidate on a permanent basis. This did not turn out well after Paraguay failed to impress even in friendly matches. The team managed just one victory in the last five friendly matches. The national team’s controlling authority has taken a decision to appoint Diaz, who has immense experience of working in South America and winning titles.

He famously led River Plate back to the top of the Argentine table only last season.“Ramón Díaz and the Paraguayan Football Association (APF) have sealed a four-year work agreement,” said the association president Alejandro Dominguez in a press conference. “It’s one of the biggest challenges of my career. There’s a lot of work to do,” said Diaz. The 55-year-old has worked with top players at the likes of Inter Milan, Monaco, and River Plate in his playing days. He has largely been in charge of Argentine clubs in his coaching career with the most successful being at River Plate.

Kaka doesn’t know how long he continues playing in Brazil.
The 32-year old, whose parent club is Orlando City, is currently at Sao Paulo on loan till January.

There have been rumours that his loan period would be extended, but, the player himself did not drop any strong hints that he was going to stay in his motherland.

In an interview yesterday, when Kaka was asked about the chances of loan extension, he said, “I don’t have any idea. To be honest, it’s not me who is going to make the call in that regard. It’s up to the two clubs to have a chat and reach a conclusion. It’s also important to see where Sao Paulo finishes the season.”

It’s believed if Sao Paulo makes it to Copa Libertadores, they would definitely try and push for the extension of Kaka’s loan.

At this point of time, Sao Paulo is at the second position in the Brazilian top tier. With 18 wins and 9 draws, they have secured 67 points.

Just four weeks are remaining for the season to end there in Brazil and if Sao Paulo doesn’t play really bad football in that period, they should definitely be in top 4 at the end of the season and if they are, they would be in next season’s Copa Libertadores.

However, the Copa Sudamericana title would get Sao Paulo to Copa Libertadores anyway. They have already reached the Round of 8 in Sudamericana.

So, it’s very much possible that the Tricolor would be playing in the 2015 Libertadores and that means Kaka’s chances of staying in Brazil are quite high too.

So far during his 6-month long spell at Morumbi, Kaka has shaken the net two times in the 20 matches that he has featured in.

Paraguay is getting ready for the approaching 2015 Copa America and the squad which is currently being managed by Victor Genes played against China and Korea Republic in October but both matches finished in a defeat as the Asian squads proved to be just way too much for Paraguay but the head coach Victor Genes had already said that these recently played friendly matches were going to be nothing more than warm up games for his squad.
‘’These matches will help form an appropriate squad that is good enough to play in the 2015 Copa America and hopefully we can earn our spot into the 2018 World Cup. After 4 consecutive World Cup qualifications, we failed on getting into the 2014 World Cup but life goes on and we must have to create a new squad’’ Paraguay’s Victor Genes said.
Paraguay made a trip to the Cheonan Baekseok Stadium as they played a friendly match with Korea Republic on October 10 with the Asian team coming out with a 2-0 victory.
The Paraguayan goal-keeper Antony Silva had to make an early save in order to deny Tae-Hee Nam from scoring as Korea Republic started the match as the better team in the early stages of the game.
The early dominance that the hosts had implanted into the pitch was evident a few minutes later when Paraguay allowed their opponents with just too much space on the pitch and Lee Chung-Yong capitalized on this as he rushed down the right wing and delivered a cross over to Kim Min-Woo as he scored the opening goal of the match at the 27th minute.
Only 5 minutes later and Tae-Hee Nam extended the lead of his squad by 2 goals as he scored with a close range shot that went into the back of the net.
Paraguay tried to get back into the game in the 2nd half as the team of Victor Genes improved significantly but ultimately failed on scoring a single goal.
China were the next opponents of Paraguay as they battled against each other in another friendly match which also saw the Paraguayan side sustaining another defeat but even with these successive losses, Victor Genes remains optimistic about what his squad can offer and do in the upcoming 2015 Copa America.