Paraguay Team for 2010 World Cup

Paraguay football team for the FIFA World Cup 2010 is visiting South Africa enveloped in a cloud of confidence, courtesy the team’s qualifying campaign. It could never have started off better for Paraguay; they were extremely successful in stitching together an almost flawless road to South Africa. For their efforts and an assured ticket to the FIFA 2010 World Cup the Paraguayans have only themselves and their Argentinean coach Gerardo Martino to thank.  What’s more – The team even gets to finish off what their forerunners initiated at the 1998 and 2002 tournaments. The present Paraguayan team is definitely on its way to the shores of glory.

The Paraguayans in their campaign to South Africa pulled off ten wins, three draws and five defeats, thus mopping up 33 points in the process. The team finished third in their group which was topped by the mighty Brazilians. The highlight of the Paraguayan campaign however was when the team achieved the seemingly impossible with a 1-0 win over Argentina. The victory over the Argentineans was received extremely well in Paraguay with the Paraguayan President declaring a national holiday to enable celebrations for the same. Estadio Defensores del Chaco deserves credits for putting in efforts to take the team from where they were to where they are now.

Other than the spirited Estadio Defensores del Chaco, the Paraguayan team for the FIFA World Cup 2010 boasts of a ‘pride’ loaded with players hungry for success. The team comprises gifted players and big names that ring more than just a bell in the minds of their opponents. Oscar Cardozo, Roque Santa Cruz and Nelson Haedo Valdez are players who are capable of rocketing Paraguay to the final stages of the tournament, and maybe, just maybe even help Paraguay win the coveted Cup. The three players were a part of the Germany 2006 squad, and the not so distant memories of Paraguay’s group-phase exit will have the three aiming for the skies.

"The secret to our qualification was the fact that the players and all the professionals involved with the national team went about their job responsibly and with a minimum of fuss,” revealed the Paraguayan coach Gerardo Martino. Martino in South Africa will look to cement his name in the history of world football – Can he and his players overcome the formidable odds? Will they make it to the stars?

The Pre-World Cup list of players for Paraguay is given below.