The secret weapon

For the ones who don’t know, Paraguay is a bi-lingual country, there are two official languages, the Spanish and Guarani. Guarani is the language that was spoken by the natives when the first Spanish colonizers arrived to this land. Although the native population is relatively small comparing with other countries like Bolivia, Peru or Ecuador, the Guarani language and culture remain deeply-rooted in the Paraguayan people.

Like the movie Windtalkers where the American soldiers used the Navajo’s language to communicate in the Pacific’s battles, the Paraguayan football teams use this language inside the field to communicate each other, primarily when they played against another Spanish speaker team. The Guarani was use during the past qualifications and World Cups. Even though our players probably won’t understand our rivals languages, this tradition will still be use in Germany.

The Guarani language and culture are something that not only united all the Paraguayans but actually represent us, and all the people even when they aren’t related to the natives, they see the language and the culture as symbols of the country. Every Paraguayan is proud to be “Guarani”. In Germany this symbol will accompany the national team everywhere, primarily because they will speak Guarani during the games and it is the slogan of the bus that will be use by the team.