Paraguay Football Fans

The Brazilian national team have qualified for the forthcoming World Cup in Russia at the expense of Paraguay.

Tite supervised the eighth straight victory in the Copa America World Cup qualification series as the five-time champions register their hopes of retaking their spot in international football.The result was not enough to confirm the qualification but the shocking defeat Uruguay suffered in the hands of Peru sealed the hope for Brazil.

Four sides are to automatically make the World Cup from Copa America and as it stands Brazil’s 33 points would be enough to earn them a spot even if they lose the rest of the games. Colombia is the closest rival but they are nine points out. Uruguay and Chile have garnered 23 points each while Argentina ranked fifth with 22 points.

“My greatest joy is sharing joy. When you look at the face of your family, when you see the players happy, when you see a happy little child, sharing joy is my greatest satisfaction. More pleasure,” an overjoyed Tite said after the qualification was sealed.

Barcelona star and skipper for the Brazilian side Neymar missed a penalty but he got a goal after a Philippe Coutinho opener. Real Madrid defender Marcelo added the third late in the game to complete the 3-0 rout.

Paraguay coach Juan Carlos Arce blamed the referee for the way the match went.

“The refereeing was bad today. It is a shame – Brazil does not need it,” he said.

Elsewhere, Argentina received bad news as Lionel Messi was banned for four games for swearing at a linesman. They are hoping to get the decision turned as that might end their World Cup hopes. For now, the rest of the slots are open as the points’ differences are minor.

Chiapas player Jonathan Fabbro might not have expected it but his model girlfriend Larissa Riquelme has said that she would strip naked if the team reaches the final in the Mexican League, according to reports.

This is not the first time Larissa was making such promises. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the model said she would strip naked if Fabbro and his Paraguayan teammates won the tournament. She promised a nude photo and delivered during the tournament even though the South American side were knocked out in the quarterfinal stage.

“It will be a present to all the players, and for all the people in Paraguay to enjoy. They tried as hard as possible and gave it their all on the field,” she said as reasons for releasing the nude photos.

This time she is taking it a notch higher by promising to include her partner if the club reaches the final after a fan asked her on TV. However going by her antecedent, Riquelme may go ahead to post the pictures even if they do not reach the final as she said.

The upcoming edition of Copa Libertadores is going to be bigger than the previous editions and there will be quite a few sides taking part in this competition for the first time this season.

Capiata’s rise to the continental competition is absolutely extraordinary because it’s a very young club. It’s actually only 9 years back that it had come to existence.

There is surely an element of luck involved in Capiata making it to Libertadores. It was not among the first three teams that had earned the direct qualification to the competition from Paraguay.

But, the spot opened up for Capiata when the Football association of Mexico decided that it wouldn’t be sending any of its teams as the schedule of the matches of its domestic league was conflicting with the schedule of Libertadores.

Because of that, a few vacancies got created in the competition and to fill that, one more spot was given to some of the other countries including Paraguay and that one spot given to Paraguay went to Capiata.

Actually the total no. of vacancies created by Mexico’s absence was three, but, the extra spots were given to 6 countries. It means that 6 teams got the entry and the format is such that there will be three qualifying ties between those 6 teams and the teams which end up winning those ties will proceed to the main competition.

Capiata’s tie has been set against Tachira, a team which plays in the Venezuela top tier.

The Libertadores has obviously lost some of its colour by no Mexico representation, but, from Capiata’s point of view, they wouldn’t mind that because it gives them the opportunity to showcase themselves at the continental level and that too within a decade of their creation. That boggles mind.

The CONMEBOL group of the qualifying stages for the 2018 FIFA World Cup is being extremely contested with: Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela all attempting to snatch a top 5 spot that would allow them to advance into the next rounds of the approaching worldwide competition.

Arce’s first managerial stint in charge of Paraguay occurred on July of 2011 but he was sacked on June of 2012, the main reason of why Francisco Arce was removed at such a quick time lapse was due to the poor results that he and his squad secured in their campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The 45 year old Paraguayan manager was recently given a 2nd chance to make it happen with the Paraguay national side but it will be extremely difficult as there are many other competent national sides that are competing in the CONMEBOL which are also attempting to snatch a top spot.

“I accept that our first time was not good. We have acquired more solidity in the five years that have passed.” Paraguay’s Francisco Arce said as he stated that the national side is better than they were a few years ago.

Brazil is leading the way at the top of the CONMEBOL group with 27 points; Uruguay is sitting in 2nd place with 23 points, Ecuador is located in the 3rd spot with 20 points, Chile is also tied with 20 points but with a worse goal difference and the last qualifying spot is being occupied by Argentina with 19 points. Paraguay is at the 7th spot with 15 points after 12 qualifying matches.

There are still 6 qualifying matches left to be played which is enough time for Paraguay or any of the other national sides that are struggling to make a push for the top positions.

Sergio Aguer failed to score a penalty as Argentina suffered their first home loss in a 1-0 World Cup qualifier loss against Paraguay in Cordoba.

It was an essential moment with Argentina already trailing to Derlis Gonzalez’s counter-attacking opener in the first half, after the winger exploited a lack of pace in an opposition defense.

Paraguay sat on the goal, inviting pressure from the hosts, who struck the post through Angel Di Maria in the first half as Marcos Rojo goal was controversially ruled out as offside.

Argentina, without Lionel Messi due to a groin injury, could not break down Francisco Arce’s side and subsequently drop out of the automatic qualification spots in the CONMEBOL section following a third match without a victory.

Paraguay were close to scoring an opener in the seventh minute when Gustavo Gomez gave a diving header wide using Oscar Romero’s free-kick from the left. They only had to wait 11 more minutes to make the breakthrough, though, and it came following a rapid counter-attack.

Angel Di Maria came close to restoring parity midway through the half when his left-footed sprint from the edge of the box hit the base of the post and went behind, while Rojo sliced an opportunity over in the 26th minute.

The hosts got a brilliant chance to equalize at the beginning of the second half when a header from Gonzalo Higuain struck Paulo da Silva’s arms inside the box, but Villar dived low to his left to deny Aguero from netting the awarded penalty.

Argentina continued to be in charge of the pitch but Higuain could not poke in Di Maria’s low cross in the 64th minute as substitute, Paulo Dybala had a 20-yard drive batted away by Villar as Paraguay clung on to an important three points.

Paraguay coach Francisco Arce has stated that his team will come back stronger after their defeat against Uruguay.

Indeed Paraguay has been beaten 4-0 by their rivals in their latest World Cup qualifiers. It was a poor performance from the team as they allowed Uruguay plenty of time and space on the ball.

Francisco Arce said that this was an accident and that he will be working with his players to prevent a repeat of such a performance. He admitted that Uruguay was better than them on the day, but his players could have done better. He said that there was no aggression and pressure from his players as they allowed Uruguay plenty of time on the ball.

Francisco Arce said that the players should prepare themselves well ahead of their future games in the qualifiers. He believes his team has the necessary potential to make it to the World Cup, but it will all depend on how they perform in the match against the big teams.

He said that there was not a big difference in class between the two teams and it is the players that did not perform at their best on the day. He has asked fans to stay behind the team and not to criticize the players unnecessarily. Indeed there has been mounting pressure from fans after the defeat and many pundits have called for Francisco Arce to be sacked from the team. They believe that the team is not progressing under the manager, and that changes are needed at the head of the team if Paraguay is going to make it to the World Cup.

Uruguay did not give Paraguay any chance in the game. They opened the score early through Cavani and added two more goals before half-time to make it 3-0. Uruguay added another goal just after the break to seal a major victory for the team.

After successive victory in Copa America finals, there could be complacency so Chile coach issued a clear warning to his team that they could not afford to be overconfident as they continue with the World Cup qualifiers next week.

Superstar Alexis Sanchez who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League, Arturo Vidal with German champions Bayern Munich and Claudio Bravo in a purported move to Manchester City from Barcelona are set to feature when Chile play their qualifiers on September 1 and 6.

Chile is set to meet with Paraguay in the first meeting, and host Bolivia five days after in Santiago. Chile are in fourth place in the CONMEBOL standings after garnering ten points from the games played so far. Uruguay and Ecuador lead with 13 points each, leaving Argentina in third with 11 points. Fans are already hoping the confidence from lifting the Copa America would help the team get past Paraguay, before they meet the lowly ranked Bolivia. However, Pizzi has cautioned them sternly.

“We can’t hand on what we have done in the Copa America Centenario. There are still many more matches in this qualifying. We aren’t in first place, we are fourth.

“And if we want to make it to the World Cup, we are going to have to make a lot of sacrifices, work very hard and win the points that we need to get us qualfified,” Pizzi explained.

Arturo Vidal scored two goals as his club defeated archrivals Borussia Dortmund in the German Super Cup. The win helped the German side win their first Super Cup in four seasons. Pizzi hailed the player’s performance at the news conference, especially after his show at the Copa America. Pizzi adds that he hope Sanchez would join them in top shape after his scare at the Copa America.

Paraguay will have to rebuild their team if they want to qualify for the next World Cup after their Copa America exit.

Indeed, Paraguay has been eliminated from the Copa America Centenario following the defeat against the United States. For many pundits, this has been a big disappointment for a team that has reached the semifinals in the last two tournaments.

Paraguay has not managed to win a single match at the Copa America and scored only one goal. They managed only to draw with Costa Rica and were beaten by Colombia. They needed a win against the United States in order to progress to the next round, but they unfortunately lost the game.

Paraguay’s next games will be against the likes of Chile and Uruguay for the World Cup qualifiers, and they will have to improve a lot if they want to have a chance of making it to the World Cup. They are currently seventh in the table and with only the top four teams making it to the finals, Paraguay will have to make changes to their team if they want to have a hope of qualifying.

In a statement released by the football association of Paraguay, it has been revealed that coach Ramon Diaz has resigned from his post following the elimination. The team will have some major rebuilding to do if they want to have a chance to make it to the next World Cup.

At the moment, they seem to be a team that lacks cohesion and organization. We will have to wait for the end of the Copa America to find out which coach will replace Diaz. Paraguay possesses a lot of quality players, but they will need the right coach to help them organize the team.

Paraguay manager Ramon Diaz recently handed over his resignation after his team were eliminated from the Copa America much earlier than expected.

The national team have begun searching for a new manager and are expected to be in no hurry before making the announcement. The national team went on the run of six matches without a win towards the end ofDiaz’ regime. They were knocked out of the Copa America after having taken just one point from the three games in the group stages. Paraguay will be aware that the next manager has to be excellent from the word go since he will not have any breathing space in the form of friendly games. His first match is likely to be the World Cup qualification game against Chile in September and it will be immediately followed by a game against Uruguay.

“After the end of Paraguay’s participation in the Copa America Centennial, professor Ramon Diaz tendered his irrevocable resignation as technical director of the Paraguayan football team,” read a statement on the official website of the Paraguayan national team after the exit from the competition. The solitary point taken by Paraguay at the centenary Copa America came in the 0-0 draw with Costa Rica in the opening group game. Since then, they suffered a 2-1 loss against Colombia followed by the narrow 1-0 defeat against United States.

Paraguay have omitted experienced forward Lucas Barrios in the final squad for the Copa America.

Manager Ramon Diaz has taken this decision despite seeing the forward come up with two goals in the previous edition of the tournament in Chile. The upcoming Copa America is held to celebrate the centenary year. Hence, it comes much earlier than its usual schedule. It gives Paraguay a great opportunity to overcome the disappointment of the previous edition.

The national team may be without the great players that it had a few years ago, but Ramon Diaz will see this as a great opportunity to build a team for the future. This may have been the reasoning behind omitting the 31-year-old from the squad ahead of this crucial tournament.

Interestingly,Barrios was part of the Paraguayan national team in the provisional squad, while he also played for the national team in the games against Brazil and Ecuador a few months ago in the World Cup qualifiers. The Copa America centenary edition will take place in United States. The tournament starts on June 3. The opening match for Paraguay will be against Costa Rica and they are involved in a group containing hosts United States.

Columbia are the other team in the group. Hence, Paraguay will already face a lot of challenges to even reach the knockout stages. They are not one of the favourites to progress to the next round. United States and Colombia will be seen as the potential teams to progress. However, Paraguay can spring a surprise if they start the campaign on a positive note by winning against Costa Rica. Anything other than a victory will be a huge dampener to the national team’s hopes. Some of the older players like Paulo da Silva and Roque Santa Cruz continue to be part of the team.